


Oasis

by WinnieThePooh89



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Season 8 was disappointing, Torture, Voltron: Legendary Defender Season/Series 08 Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2019-10-14 01:39:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17499188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinnieThePooh89/pseuds/WinnieThePooh89
Summary: “I have one more item to discuss,” Shiro addresses to everyone in the meeting room. “It’s our last night on Earth, and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back for years. So I’m ordering you…” Shiro pauses, his commanding demeanor shifts into something much more relaxed and he smiles softly, “to take some time for yourselves. Be with the ones you love.“You’ve earned it.”————A season 8 Fix-it (because Season 8 was very disappointing)





	1. Chapter 1

“ _Keith” A voice whispers in the black void. Keith spins around, trying to find the source of the voice._

_“Keith.” The voice whispers again. Keith feels a shiver run down his spine, and he sees something move in his peripheral. But when he turns to see what it is, all that he sees is his endless black surroundings._

_“Who’s there?” Keith shouts, his voice wavers and his hands tremble. His grip on his dagger tightens, looking around desperately for whomever is hiding in the darkness._

_“You’re one of us.” This time, the voice seems to come from directly behind him, and Keith swings his dagger at the spot where the voice came from._

_“Where are you?” He shouts into the void. He tries to move forward but his legs refuse to move._

_He feels a hand grasps the back of his neck, another hand grabbing his hand holding his dagger; a tight grip._

_“Join us.”_

Keith jolts awake in his bed, gasping for air, trying to get his breathing back under control. He runs his hand through his hair as his mind starts to clear. He feels something cold and wet press against his arm and he startles.

Though he calms down when he realizes it’s only Kosmo, offering Keith comfort. Keith smiles, rubbing Kosmot’s head.

At first, Keith really wasn’t a fan of the name Kosmo. He wanted to wait for Kosmo to tell him his name in whatever way he chose. He didn’t want to make the decision for the wolf. But Kosmo responds to the name, and the others seem to like the name. If the others like the name, why should his opinion on the matter deny them of this?

Keith turns to look at the digital clock on the bed-side table.

0600

All Garrison personnel were scheduled to have a meeting at 0800, and Keith doesn’t think he could go back to sleep at the moment, so he decides to start getting ready for the day.

Keith swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands and shaky legs. He can still feel the after effects of his nightmare running through his veins. He has had plenty of nightmares before but this one was… different.

Keith can’t figure out why it was but he figures he shouldn’t linger on the details too much.

Everybody has more important things to be worrying about, including himself.

He gets dressed in workout clothes and heads into the kitchen section of the room he was assigned after he was let out of the infirmary a couple weeks ago. He feeds Kosmo, fills a water bottle and heads out of the door.

There are already people milling around in the hallways as Keith makes his way down to the training room. While Keith doesn’t recognize anyone in the halls, they seem to know who he is from the way their gazes follow him down the hallway.

He continues to feel it as he walks to the training room.

* * *

It’s fifteen minutes past seven when Keith leaves the training room. He leaves sweaty, tired, but more relaxed than he’s felt in months. As he makes his way back to his room, he spots a familiar head of white hair coming his way.

Keith pauses in the middle of the hallway and watches as Shiro comes closer, all his attention diverted to the tablet in his hands.

Keith can’t remember the last time him and Shiro actually had a proper conversation that didn’t involve battle strategies. He remembers how close the two of them were. How Shiro had been the first person Keith had truly trusted after his dad died. How Shiro never gave up on Keith and Keith never gave up on him.

After their fight in the cloning facility, Keith had felt Shiro pull away from him. It wasn’t too drastic at the time, but Keith still noticed. Now, after the last battle with the Galra, Shiro had completely pulled away. Keith’s lucky if he can get Shiro to look at him for more than a few seconds.

Keith reaches out to Shiro, hoping to stop him. “Hey Shiro, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Shiro doesn’t look up from his tablet and he keeps on walking. “Sorry. I’m busy, maybe later,” Keith frowns and looks away as Shiro disappears down the hallway.

Keith is used to the people he loves leaving him. It’s even worse now with Shiro. But Keith will still continue to try to reach out to him.

Keith sighs and continues his way back to his room.

* * *

“I have one more item to discuss,” Shiro addresses to everyone in the meeting room. “It’s our last night on Earth, and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back for years. So I’m ordering you…” Shiro pauses, his commanding demeanor shifts into something much more relaxed and he smiles softly, “to take some time for yourselves. Be with the ones you love.

“You’ve earned it.”

Keith watches as everybody leaves the room. Right before they leave the meeting room, Keith spots Hunk, Pidge, and Lance. Keith notices that Lance looks very distracted as he exits the room, while Hunk seems to be excitedly talking about, from what Keith can barely catch, a T.V. show based on Voltron. Even though Keith had been bed ridden in the infirmary for weeks, he hadn’t heard of the T.V. Considering the circumstances, Keith wouldn’t even have the time to watch it now.

Keith notices Shiro still standing in the same spot as everybody leaves. Normally, Keith would be by Shiro’s side, but as Keith watches Shiro leave the room, he feels as if he is no longer allowed to occupy that space.

As much as Keith hates it, if Shiro doesn’t want Keith by his side, Keith can’t bring himself to go against Shiro’s wishes. So he stays put in his chair.

He feels Kosmo press his wet nose against Keith’s hand, whining, successfully gaining Keith’s attention. He feels comfort soothe over his aching heart at Kosmo’s show of affection. He pets Kosmo’s head in appreciate, which Kosmo seems to understand.

The door opens once more as Keith stands from his chair. He looks up, hoping to see the one person he desperately wants to see at that moment. However, Keith knows he shouldn’t keep getting his hopes up when he sees his mom in the doorway.

But it’s still brings comfort from seeing his mom, even if she is giving him a concerned look. She walks up to Keith and rests her hand on Keith’s cheek. Keith closes his eyes, soaking up the love that is being expressed through such a simple gesture.

“My star, are you alright?” She asks softly, cradling his face in her hands. He meets her eyes and fakes a smile.

“I’m alright.” Keith can tell that he doesn’t sound convincing at all. He can hear how his voice wavers ever so slightly.

These past few weeks, Keith didn’t need to tell his mom about Shiro distancing himself. She was able to notice the slow progression. She knew how much Shiro means to Keith Their two years in the Quantum Abyss showed her the extent her son would go to make sure the ones he loves make it out in the end.

She felt immense guilt as she saw his past, the pain and suffering he had experienced. She may not have been there for Keith when he was a child, but she has sworn to herself to be there for him now and in the future.

“We both know that’s not true.” She runs her hand through his soft black hair, taking notice of how much longer his hair has grown these last few months. “I may not know everything that has happened, but I know Shiro loves you. He may not be expressing it too much right now, but just know that it’ll be alright. After everything you two have been through together, nothing can force you apart now.”

Keith’s vision goes blurry at him mom’s words; she pulls him into a hug and holds him while he cries.

* * *

Keith spends the rest of the day with his mom. With staying behind once they found Kolivan and saving Earth from the Galra invasion, there isn’t really much leisure time. But eventually, Krolia had to settle some things and left Keith to his own devices, however, she made sure he would be fine on his own for the remaining hours in the day.

Keith spent all but fifteen minutes wandering the Garrison before boredom took hold and he went to find the others. He was hoping to spend time with his friends before the the launch tomorrow, but none were in sight.

He did, however, run into Colleen. When he asked about Pidge, she claimed that she went shopping with Allura, Romelle, Ina, and Nadia. He isn’t really familiar with the MFE fighters, except James, and he knows that he isn’t great with interacting with people he hardly knows. He would’ve gone and found James, but their relationship is still very fragile, and Keith doesn’t want to risk damaging it.

He was hoping Pidge would still be on the base, for when they still had the Castle of Lions, Keith found found comfort in the silence him and Pidge shared. Keith often found Pidge in her lion’s hanger or the lounge, typing away at her laptop. At first, Keith was very hesitant about hanging around with Pidge as she worked, but she reassured him that his presence was welcome.

He did find Hunk later in the kitchen. Honestly, this should’ve been the first place to look for Hunk. Hunk smiles brightly when he spots Keith in the doorway, Kosmo behind.

“Hey! It’s Keith. How are you doing man?” Hunk says enthusiastically as he claps his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith shrugs, not able to hold back a smile, albeit small. “I’m okay, considering everything that's going on.”

“Yeah, I can understand. I mean, I’ve been so antsy today. Like, can you believe that this war is going to be over soon? It’s incredible. Terrifying, but incredible.”

“Yeah. We’ve come really far from those ametuar cadets we were while in the Garrison.” Keith walks over to the counter and sits down on top of it. “Hey Hunk,” Keith says, getting Hunk’s attention, turning away from what he was looking at in the oven. “Have you ever thought about what you want to do once this is all over?” He asks softly.

That causes Hunk to stop and think for a moment, “I’m not sure. I’ve been so occupied ever since we found the Blue lion and found the Castle of Lions. I was just freaking out over a lot at that time, you know. Like when would I be able to go back to Earth, what my family would think when they hear that I went missing, what I would be able to cook with the limited amount of supplies that we had at the moment.” Hunk pauses and looks at Keith, noticing his sombre expression. “Why do you ask?”

Keith shrugs, unsure how to answer Hunk, “It’s just, for so long I never felt like I belonged here. I was sure where I belonged. It didn’t help that I was alone for so long,” He pauses, “then I met Shiro. Even if I was hesitant to let him in, he was persistent in becoming my friend.” Keith laughs softly, thinking back to the earlier stages of his friendship with Shiro. “Then Shiro went missing and I felt lost again. And being in space, fighting against the Galra, I felt as if I finally found what I had lost a long time ago.”

_A family._

“But I know that once this is all over, and we all go our separate ways, that lost feeling will come back, and I won’t know what to do.” He finishes, voice shaking. He feels something pulling at him. He doesn’t what it is though, and it frightens him.

Hunk places his large hands on Keith’s shoulders, bringing Keith from his head. Hunk gives a warm, and understanding smile. “Keith, no matter what happens, we will always be together. I know that you never had a lot of people when you were younger, you don’t need to say anything for me to figure it out, but none of us are going to leave you.” Hunk smiles and wraps his arms around Keith. “We’re family. And nothing will change that.”

Keith is frozen for a moment from the hug but is quick to wrap his arms around Hunk. “Thank you, Hunk.”

“Anytime.”

* * *

Keith brings the Black Lion a little ways away from the Garrison. He and Kosmo sit atop the head, overlooking the sunset. Keith always loved watching the sun set. But this time, one thing is different from the other times he watches a sun set. And that fact weighs down on Keith.

He spots Lance from the corner of his eyes, panting and groaning as he pushes himself on top on the Black Lion. “Man, you can be a real hard guy to find when you wanna be.” Keith isn’t too surprised that Lance had found him out here, what with the Black Lion missing from the Garrison and sitting out in the desert. He’s just curious as to what brought he all the way out here.

“Hey, Lance.” Keith says, glancing over to him. Keith does a double take when he sees his friend. “Whoa! What are you wearing?” Keith asks, extremely confused. Lance stands before him, wearing pots and pans, and meat strung around his neck.

Lance groans, his shoulders sagging. “Coran made it for me for my date with Allura.” He says exasperated. He sits down next to Keith, drawing his legs up against his chest.

“A date with Allura? Wow, well done Lance.” Keith says impressed. Ever since they met to two Alteans, Lance had been completely infatuated with Allura. Keith never paid too much attention to it, but Lance was always flirting with Allura. He wasn’t surprised when Allura wasn’t impressed by his advances. Lance was immature at that time. They all were.

But times are different now.

Lance smiles and but it leaves just as quickly as it came. “Thanks but it’s probably our last. I can’t keep all these Altean customs straight.”

Keith and Lance may not have gotten along in the past, but they’ve gotten closer recently. Keith trusts Lance with his life, and Lance doesn’t seem like he hates Keith anyway. So seeing Lance insecure about his worth and being with Allura pains Keith.

“Listen, if she’s going out with you, it’s because she like you.” Keith pauses and a grin forms on his face. “The annoying, stupid, Earth version of you.” He’s glad to see that that gets a laugh of of him.

Lance appears more reassured now as he looks out into the distance. “You watching the sunset?” He asks.

“Yeah.” Keith says, relieved that this wasn’t a complete waste. He’s glad he could watch the sun set with Lance. “It might be awhile until we can see it again.”

Lance sighs, “Man, I’m really going to miss this place.”

Keith looks back over to Lance. “That's why we have to end this war. And we’re going to do it with the Lance that’s the Paladin of the Red Lion,” Keith pauses. He gives him a fond look, “the Lance that always has my back. And the Lance that knows exactly who he is and what he has to offer.”

Lance smiles, “Thanks Keith. I really needed to hear that.”

“Anytime.”

They both remain on top of the Black Lion, even after the sun disappears past the hills in the distance. It’s a while before either of them speak.

“Well, I guess I should head back. I have to go back home and get ready before Allura shows up,” Lance states as he stands up. Keith hums in acknowledgment, but doesn’t move from his spot.

Lance turns back to Keith when he realizes he is following him, “You coming?”

Keith shakes his head, still staring out into the distance, but now Keith seems more tense, “No. I’m going to stay out here for a little while longer.”

Lance opens his mouth to say something, but quickly closes it, looking down at his feet. Keith probably wants to be alone at the moment and Lance can respect that.

“Alright. Just promise me you won’t stay out here too long. It’s already getting cooler and we don’t need our Leader of Voltron to get sick tomorrow.” That seems to relax Keith some and smiles and nods.

Satisfied, Lance climbs back down the Black Lion.

* * *

“When we were out there fighting against the Galra, I somehow felt like we were a family. Each of us was alone, but we were alone together.” Lance doesn’t say anything, but he desperately wants to comfort Allura. “But now, here on Earth, I see that everyone already has a family and a home to return to once the war is over. Everyone except me. And for the first time, I feel uncertain about what my future holds.

Lance doesn’t say anything, knowing that if he speaks, Allura will stop talking. Even if he really wants to tell her that what she is saying isn’t true. She has a family and she isn’t alone anymore.

”It’s silly. I used to think that the team relied on me. That I needed to be strong for everyone else. But now I see it was I that needed all of you,” Allura turns around to face him, a small smile on her face, “You are my strength.”

“Allura, you are not alone. As long as I have any say in it, you will never be alone,” Lance pauses. Sometimes his emotions can get the better of him, and this is one of those times. He wants to lay his heart out for Allura and profess his love for her. Lance thinks back to what Hunk had told him earlier, how this could very well be his last chance. He decides to take that chance because as long as he is alive, he will never stop loving Allura. “I know this is our first date, and tomorrow we are going back into space, but I need you to know this. I love you Allura. I always have,” Lance walks up to Allura and takes her hands in his. “And I want to be your family. Earth can be you home, or anywhere you want to go. It doesn’t matter. I would follow you across the universe.”

Allura gazes at him, love in her eyes, “You truly feel that way?” Lance raises their hands, resting her palm over his heart.

“With all my heart.”

Allura smiles, tears shining in her eyes. They both lean in, meeting in the middle. The world around fades away as they embrace.

The upcoming days no longer seem so terrifying, knowing that they will face it together.

* * *

Romelle looks through the window in the infirmary, staring at Luca. She woke up earlier today when she went shopping with Allura, Pidge, Ina, and Nadia. Romelle wishes she was here earlier for when Luca woke up. But she’s here now.

She walks through the door, but Luca doesn’t look up from where her head in buried in her knees.

“I’m so glad to see you’re alright Luca.” That causes Luca to look up and Romelle smiles at her calmingly. She can understand if Luca is shoken up from what had happened when she came to Earth. And being on a planet that she has never heard of can be pretty frightening at first.

Romelle continues, hoping Luca will open up to her. “We can help. What happened to you? Where’s the colony?”

Romelle is startled when Luca glares at her, hostility burning in her eyes. “So you can betray them yet again?”

_Betray them?_

Romelle is extremely confused. Back on the colony, her and Luca were good friends. When Romelle’s parents and, her brother, Bandor were chosen to go to the new colony, Romelle had felt lost and alone. Following a few years later, Romelle befriended Luca and they grew close. Romelle felt less alone then.

And then Bandor arrived back at the colony, weak, frail, barely alive.

Then Romelle knew the truth about Lotor and the new colony.

Luca narrows her eyes at Romelle and continues, “You abandoned us, Romelle. And for the Paladins of Voltron, the very ones who killed our savior Lotor.”

In Romelle’s confusion and desperation, she doesn’t notice the heart rate monitor steadily getting faster.

“No, it’s not like that!” Romelle pleads. She wishes she knew what Luca had been told to cause such distrust and disgust towards her. What other lies everyone on the colony had been told.

“You’ve sided with the great destroyers!” Luca hisses at Romelle, “She told us of their lies. She’s going to fix it all. She will reunite us with Lotor, with Altea. You don’t stand a chance against Honerva-”

Luca gasps, her eyes going wide. Luca stares at the angered face of Honerva. Her raspy voice calling to her:

_I’m not done with you yet child._

She collapses back on the bed, Romelle left staring at her in shock. The heart rate monitor slows down into a slow but steady rhythm. Doctors rush into the room, one doctor ushering Romelle out through the doorway.

Romelle trembles as she looks through the window in the infirmary, staring at Luca.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Woah! Holy Kaltenacker! What are you doing here?” Keith takes notice of how Hunk greets him like a friend that you haven’t seen in years. “It’s me, Hunk. Remember? Paladin of the Yellow Lion?”
> 
> The Galra doesn’t answer him, but the look he gives Hunk is anything but friendly. Keith is hesitant to step towards the Galra, despite the restraints James had put on him.
> 
> “We worked together.” Hunk continues, hoping to spark some sort of remembrance, but it ultimately isn’t necessary when the Galra finally speaks.
> 
> “I remember.”

A constant beeping is heard throughout the infirmary. A lone figure rests on one of the beds. The Altean.

The doctors had theorized that the stress of her being on Earth had been too much for her mind and body to handle. To keep her alive, she went into a coma and has been in the infirmary ever since the Atlas launched a week ago. 

A quiet voice echoes in the silence. It’s calling for someone.

_ Luca. _

Luca’s hand twitches, but otherwise she doesn’t move. 

_ Luca, my child. You must wake. You have much that I need for you to do. _

Luca groans and she peels her eyes open, a bright light above her, temporarily blinding her.

_ You will infiltrate Voltron. Earn their trust. And when the time is right, you will bring them to me. _

The voice disappears and Luca shoots up in her bed, gasping in air and a sole name on her lips.

“Honerva.”

* * *

The paladins and the Atlas crew made their way to a Galra base on a moon. Shiro claimed that that the base would be low on supplies which would make it easier for Voltron and Atlas to liberate it from the empire. 

Shiro had lead them into the base, the MFE pilots having already gotten into the base. Inside the control room, a tall Galra stands front and certain, Ryan and James flanking both sides.

“This one says he’s the leader.” James states when he notices the paladins enter the room.

Keith watches the leader turn to face him, but even having spent two years in the quantum Abyss with his mother, this Galra never showed up in any of the memories. The others, however, seem to recognize him. 

Hunk steps forward, shocked. “Woah! Holy Kaltenacker! What are you doing here?” Keith takes notice of how Hunk greets him like a friend that you haven’t seen in years. “It’s me, Hunk. Remember? Paladin of the Yellow Lion?”

The Galra doesn’t answer him, but the look he gives Hunk is anything but friendly. Keith is hesitant to step towards the Galra, despite the restraints James had put on him.

“We worked together.” Hunk continues, hoping to spark some sort of remembrance, but it ultimately isn’t necessary when the Galra finally speaks. 

“I remember.” He says, his face remaining stoick. Keith walks up to Hunk, confused.

“Wait, you this guy?” Keith questions. He knows that they never met him before Keith went to train with The Blade of Marmora, so they had to have met him while he was gone.

Hunk confirms his thought when he starts talking about the Omega Shield and how it all happened while he was with his mom. Keith feels a pang in his chest when it is made obvious that he missed a lot while he was gone. 

“This is our friend Lieutenant Lahn.” Hunk says enthusiastically, gesturing to Lahn.

Lahn glares at Hunk. “It’s Warlord Lahn now, and you and I are not friends.”

Lahn expresses his suspicion about Voltron when he tells them about Sendak attacking them after they joined the Coalition. Then with Voltron disappearing for, suppostively, four years, they endured many more attacks from Sendak until Voltron once again appeared. 

Allura desperately tries to shut down his assumptions, but Keith knows that Lahn still doesn’t believe them.

“We didn’t come here to argue.” Shiro cuts in right before Lahn can speak, “Warlord Lahn, we’re asking you to join the Voltron Coalition, to help provide stability to the universe.”

“What’s the alternative?” Lahn asks, still not convinced. 

“If you want peace, if you want to end this war, there can be no alternative.” 

“You've attained victory, and I accept defeat.” 

Keith hears the unspoken ‘Victory or Death’ behind his words. “It doesn’t always have to be victory or death. I know it’s the Galra way-”

Lahn interrupts Keith, anger written on his face and laced in his voice. “And what do you know of the Galra?”

Keith narrows his eyes at Lahn, “My mother is Galra. She’s a member of the Blade of Marmora. And so am I.”

“The mutinous Blades have all but perished. Are they so diminished in numbers that they’re forced to enlist a half-breed and his mommy?”

Keith feels a flare of anger surge through him, but he knows it wouldn’t be wise if he were to lash out.

Thankfully, an alert from Pidge draws their attention. Pidge pulls up a transmission and a distorted male voice repeats the words ‘yordam bering exus’. Lahn explains how when distressed, sentries use this emergency protocol. Lahn is quick to accuse the coalition for attacking the sentires. Keith denies his accusations.

Pidge is able to track the comm signature and an image of the ship is shown on the screen. “Do you recognize this ship?” She asks Lahn, turning around to face him. 

“Yes, it’s Klytax V-three. It’s one of the 15 ships I sent out on an assignment six phoebs ago. They all disappeared. We assumed them dead.” Lahn says grimly.

“Looks like there not dead after all.” Keith states, then turns to Shiro. “Shiro, how long before the Atlas is ready to launch again?”

“Hours, we still need to process the Galra and prepare the planet to continue operating on its own. This is our mission. We need to see this through.”

Knowing it’s for the best, Keith decides that Voltron will be the one to go to the ship. 

Lahn, however, is less than convinced that Voltron will be able to help. “Voltron is going to save the Galra? My fleet would never believe Voltron was there to help. They’d fight you until their last breath.”

Keith smirks. “That’s why you’re coming with us.”

Lahn glares at him but Keith ignores him, instead he gets the others and they make their way off the base. When they get to their lions, Hunk looks at Lahn confused. “Who is he going to be riding with?”

“He will go with me.” Keith doesn’t trust Lahn to be with the others. The fact that the others had previously helped him doesn’t dissuade him from the fact that Lahn is hostile towards Voltron.

He is lead into Black, but Keith stays behind for a moment longer. He glances at Shiro, whom stands behind him. Shiro looks as if he is about to say something but quickly seems to decide against doing so. 

Keith frowns and follows Lahn into Black.

* * *

When they get to the transmission’s location, debris of the ship is floating around them and the remaining ship seems to be offline. Keith and Lahn go into the remaining ship first, Kosmo teleporting them inside. The others follow him in through the hangar doors.

“Pidge, are you picking up any signals?” Keith asks once she hacks into the ship’s system.

“There are multiple biorhythms, but they're intermittent, almost random. It doesn’t make any sense.”

As dangerous as it is, splitting up is probably their best bet at this point. “Hunk and Lance, clear the aft of the ship. I’ll take the bow and work my way toward you.” He turns to Pidge and Allura, “Pidge and Allura, take Lahn to go through the security logs. Find out what happened here.”

Lahn huffs, irritated. “I don’t like taking orders on my own ship.”

Keith glares at him, “Duly noted.”

* * *

Keith and Kosmo wander down the halls, looking for any signs of life, but finding none. He continues on until he hears a banging sound further down the hall. He hurries over to see what it is.

He gasps when he sees a mangled sentry, stuck in between the doors. Hoping to find survivors, Keith continues down the hall. Dozens of sentries are floating around him, all disabled. 

“What… Are… You?” Keith looks at his surroundings, looking for the source of the voice. He shines his light on a sentry that appears to still be active. He gets closer, and the sentry repeats the same question.

“My name is Keith, leader of Voltron, Paladin of the Black Lion.”

_ Wait _

“Yordam bering exus. Is that you?”

“Where are the rest of the Galra?” The sentry asks. Keith really shouldn’t have assumed that the sentry would answer his question, but at least he is getting somewhere.

“They’re still on planet Ryker. Why?” Keith asks, suspicion creeping into his voice.

“Planet Ryker.” The sentry is grabbed and tossed away and a large creature appears behind it.

Keith instantly recognizes the creature as Warlord Ranveig’s superweapon. The creature throws a sentry at Keith and Keith quickly transforms his bayard and slices through the sentry before it could hit him. 

Keith fires his thrusters, trying to get distance between him and the creature. The creature roars and fires a laser at Keith; he puts up his shield, bracing for impact. 

The force of the laser sends him flying through the hall, and slamming into a wall. Another laser is fired and it burns right through the wall. Keith fires his thrusters towards the creature, desperately trying to hit it. He knows what this creature can do and he doesn’t want it anywhere near his friends, despite the fact that it only targets the Galra.

He grabs onto Kosmo and he teleports them out of the hall right as the creature was coming for him again. They end up in the control room where everyone else has gathered.

“Oh Keith! Good, you’re here!” Hunk says relieved but still terrified. “There’s a monster on the ship!” 

Keith doesn’t respond to Hunk, instead going straight to Lahn. “The base you sent this fleet to plunder, was it Warlord Ranveig’s?”

Keith desperately wishes for Lahn to deny the base being Ranveigs. 

“Yes, it was.” 

“Unbelievable.” Keith really hoped that he would never encounter this creature again, but that was wishful thinking.

“Keith what’s going on?” Allura worriedly asks him.

“The creature on this ship is a super weapon designed to destroy the Galra, and only Galra.”

Lahn immediately gets defensive. “Warlord Ranveig would never create such a thing,” He sounds almost disgusted at the thought.

“Ranvieg found the creature in the Quantum Abyss and experimented on it with Lotor’s Quintessence. He trained it to take out his Galran enemies but he could never control it. The beast couldn’t differentiate between adversaries and allies.” 

Lance pipes up from behind him, “Wait, how do you know so much about this super-monster-weapon-thingy?”

Keith looks away, feeling at fault for all of this. “ Because my mom and I let it loose so we could escape Ranveig’s base. This is all my fault.” He knew that the creature was dangerous when they first saw it, that much was obvious. He should’ve known that it would’ve gotten out of the Quantum Abyss. “I’m sorry.”

Lahn glares at Keith, anger shining in his yellow eyes, “It’s what you’ve wanted from the beginning. Something to get rid of the Galra for you.”

As much as Keith hates that Lahn still doubts his intentions, he still has every right to be mad. The only reason why his fleet is gone is because of Keith.

“I don’t know what it’s going to take to get it through your thick skull, but we’re not your enemy,” Lance says, defending Keith.

Speaking of enemy, the creature must be on it’s way to them now. While it can move quickly, it still has to locate them, but it shouldn’t take too long for it to do so. And as much as Keith loves standing around and arguing, they have to get rid of the creature. “Pidge, can you initiate the self-destruct protocol? We need to destroy this ship and the monster along with it. And we need to do it immediately.” 

It’s risky but it’s the only way to ensure that the creature doesn’t escape the ship.

“Okay, I’m on it,” She says, turning back to the control panel, tapping away. “Once I initiate it, we’ll have two doboshes to exit the ship.”

Lance looks at her concerned, “Two hours? It’s that too long?” Keith mentally rolls his eyes. You’d think with as much time as they spent in space, Lance would remember the Altean terms for time.

Pidge irritatedly corrects him and continues setting up the self-destruct protocol. Once the timer starts, Keith turns around but doesn’t move when he sees the creature blocking their exit. The creature holds up a sentry head, which is still online.

“All… Galra… must… perish.” The creature roars and throws the head to the side, lunging at them. Lahn is too slow to move but Allura wraps her whip around his waist and pulls him to the side right before the creature can make contact.

They all use their thrusters to get to the door, but the door closes before Lahn and Keith can make it out.

Keith desperately tries to pry the door open, even though he knows it’s no use. The door is sealed tight. And unless they can figure out how to get it open, they are stuck inside with an enraged monster. 

Hunk tells him and Lahn to back away from the door, and Keith and Lahn do so. He hears blasting from the other side, and from what Keith can only assume, Lance and Hunk are trying to blast through the door. But nothing happens. The door stays intact.

The monster lunges once again, shooting lasers at them. Keith blocks them with his shield, but the force at which they are fired, throws Keith back into the wall. Keith sees Lahn stand in the way as the monster is coming right for him.

“Victory or death,” Lahn yells out to the monster.

Despite how they feel towards one another, Keith doesn’t want Lahn to get killed. Keith gets in front of Lahn, bayard transforming. However, it didn’t transform into his usual sword, instead it transforms into a mini laser cannon. Keith swears to himself to be shocked about that later when he isn’t about to get eaten by a monster.

He fires the mini cannon, hitting the creature, thus throwing the creature backwards and into a hole in the wall. Keith quickly turns around to blast the door open. 

He and Lahn jet through the opening and down the hallway, the others following close behind. They make it to the hanger that they entered through when Pidge announces they only have five more tics.

“We’ll never make it!” She shouts. Keith summons his mini cannon again and blasts a hole through the hanger doors.

As soon as they are out of the ship, the self-destruct protocol goes off, the creature left behind. The lions grab their paladins and Keith lets out a sigh of relief once he is once again in front of Black’s controls.

They leave the rubble behind, heading back to the Atlas.

* * *

Keith sighs as he walks out of the infirmary. Once all the paladins were back on the Atlas, they were brought to the infirmary to check for any injuries. Thankfully, they left the ship with mostly bumps and bruises.

Keith is on his way to the cafeteria to get something to eat when he hears someone call his name. He turns around to see Lance jogging to catch up to him.

“Hey Lance” Keith greets, a small smile gracing his face, “How you doing?” 

Lance falls instep next to Keith, but Keith notices that Lance has a more somber look on his face, unlike his usual cheer attitude.

“Can I talk to you about something, Keith?” Lance asks, and Keith notices that Lance seems significantly more solemn. That worries Keith. 

He noticed that everytime that Lance was doubting himself, he often came to Keith. While Lance and Keith have been on better terms recently, him and Lance still aren’t very close. But they are still friends, and Keith will be there for Lance. “Of course. What is it?”

Lance stops walking and looks around the hall. There are a few people wandering the hallways but none of them are paying attention to the two of them. “Can we maybe talk somewhere more private? I really don't want to talk about this in a hallway.”

Keith nods and leads Lance into an empty meeting room. Keith locks the door behind them to make sure nobody interrupts them. The two of the sit at the table and Keith waits for Lance to start.

“Back when you were out adventuring with your mom, the others and I had to help one of Lotor’s labor planet that was attacked by Sendak. They had a shield that blocks radiation from the planet, but Sendak had damaged the shield. This is when we had met ‘Warlord’ Lahn,” Lance starts, but he doesn’t meet Keith’s eyes, instead staring down at his hands. 

“We were all working to get the shield fixed before another radiation ray hit. So Allura and I had a plan to fix a cracked plate. Pidge and Shiro were working on getting the shield back up and running while the rest of use were fixing the shield. But something happened and the shield was powering down. The cracked part of the shield was sparking and waves of electricity was coming off of it. It looked like it was going to explode. And Allura was right by the cracked portion of the shield.” Lance voice wavers when he speaks, finally looking up Keith. All Keith sees is pain.

Lance sighs and continues, “So I did the only thing I could think of. I shoved Allura out of the way by slamming Red into Blue. And then I felt immense pain. It was everywhere. And then everything went black.” Keith doesn’t need Lance to continue to know what had happened to him.

“Lance.” Keith says, not breaking eye contact.

Lance looks away, however, and continues explaining, “So today, when I heard Lahn and Hunk mentioning how we helped fix the shield, I froze. I remembered saving Allura, but I also remembered dying. And how terrifying it was.” 

Not knowing what to say, Keith pulls Lance into a hug, hoping his unspoken words are heard through his gesture. Keith can understand part of what Lance had felt. He remembers how terrifying it was to see the ones he loves almost die. How he had no other choice other than to sacrifice himself to save everyone else. 

How traumatizing it is afterwards. 

But Keith doesn’t say any of it. He knows that if he were to tell Lance what Keith almost did, it wouldn’t help Lance move on. And compared to what Lance went through, Keith’s  _ almost  _ sacrifice was nothing.

“I know you know that I am not good with people. I never was and I probably never will be. But Lance, we will always be here for you. No matter what happens,  _ I  _ will always be by your side. And against common belief, I don’t actually hate you.”

That earns him a small laugh from Lance. Keith pulls away from the embrace but doesn't let go. “I care about you. And I don’t want to see you get hurt. But I understand why you did what you did. And I’m just glad your okay.” Keith gives Lance a small smile.

“Thanks Keith,” Lance looks away, looking a little sheepish, “I guess since we are both here and being all mushy, I want to apologize about how I acted around you.”

Keith is about to stop Lance, as Lance doesn't really need to apologize for anything. But Lance gives him a look, and Keith doesn’t say anything. “Nope, no no no. I am apologizing and you are going to sit there and listen.” Lance takes a deep breath and continues, “I wanted to apologize about how I kept antagonizing you while we were in the Castle. I was just jealous of you when you were still at the Garrison.” He huffs out laugh, “It seems silly now but you were the teachers favorite. They always talked about you and how smart and talented you were.

“And you were also really close to Shiro. I mean, everybody at the Garrison loved Shiro. He was so kind to everybody and he is a great pilot. Everybody looked up to him. Then there was you, Mr. I hate everybody Kogane, yet you somehow earned Shiro’s attention and affection. I guess I just wanted to be noticed, and I guess I saw you as the one person standing in my way. So I worked harder to get better than you, and I see now how it turned out in the end.

“So, I’m sorry.”

Keith doesn’t say anything for a moment, processing everything that Lance had told him. He also wondered what he had done to make Lance hate him, but now that he knows, he isn’t sure what to feel.

“I appreciate you telling me this. And I want to say sorry too. I guess I never really tried seeing it from your point of view. But it’s okay. I understand.” Keith gives Lance a reassuring smile and holds out his hand, “Are we good now?”

Lance laughs, grabbing Keith’s hand and pulling him back into a hug, “Of course man.”

* * *

Afterwards, Shiro had called everyone into the control room for a debriefing. Keith and Lance were one of the first ones in the room. The others were Shiro and one of the Atlas crew members. Keith met him briefly when the Atlas launched; but he never really got to know him. All Keith really knows is his name and his role on the Atlas.

Shiro, however, seems to have gotten to know Curtis pretty well over the past few weeks that they have been on Earth and then in space. 

Shiro laughs at something Curtis says and Keith feels a flare a jealousy. He doesn’t know why he is so jealous of Shiro enjoying someone else’s company. Keith doesn’t have that right anymore; not after Shiro made it clear he doesn’t want to be around Keith anymore. 

Keith looks away, ashamed and disheartened. He sees Lance give him a concerned look, but Keith just walks further away from where Shiro and Curtis stand. Lance follows him,  but he doesn’t ask him what’s wrong. 

He must know that now isn’t the best time to talk about it.

Pidge and Hunk are the next to enter the room; Allura following shortly after. She spots Lance and Keith and comes to stand next to Lance.

Shiro notices that everyone else has entered the room. He gives Curtis one last look and walks over to the rest of them. But before Shiro can start speaking, Coran rushes into the room.

“Coran, what is it?” Shiro asks.

“Luca. She woke up briefly this morning but was quick to go unconscious again. But she's awake now and coherent,” Coran says, visabally relieved. 

“That’s not all, is it?” Keith questions, knowing that there has to be more.

Coran nods, “Yes, there is indeed more. While when she first woke, Romelle told me that Luca was quite frazzled. But now she is more calm. She also claims that she can help us find Honerva.”

Nobody says anything, too shocked to speak. They were going to rely on Honerva’s beasts to lead them to her. That could possibly take years to find and take down Honerva just because of how vast the universe is.

But now that Luca seems willing to help, it could considerably shorten the time from years to months, maybe even weeks.

“So what do we do now, then?” Hunk asks, breaking the silence.

“First, we need to see if Honerva still has any connection to Luca, so she won’t be able to track us. Then, we will see what Luca knows of Honerva’s whereabouts,” Shiro tells them, “But until then, we will let her rest.” Shiro pause for a brief moment, “And so should you. We have a long journey ahead of us.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to thank @NerdyRedGlasses on [Twitter](https://mobile.twitter.com/NerdyRedGlasses) for letting my use their [thread](https://mobile.twitter.com/NerdyRedGlasses/status/1074033719944589314)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The lions land on the surface of the planet. The sand is grey, lifeless; what appears to be dead and fallen trees are now only withering sticks. In the dark grey sky, smoke is carried upward. A smoking volcano lays miles ahead from where they landed.

Keith looks through the window at Luca. She is sitting up in her bed, tapping at a datapad. He hasn’t interacted with her since she had woken up. The doctors hadn’t let anyone in her room for a few days, claiming that she needed to rest.

Her body has had a lot of strain put upon it in the last couple of days; they didn’t want to risk her falling back into a coma. But she was cleared to have visitors. Romelle was hesitant to talk to Luca, for their last talk didn’t end well. She had gone to Keith for comfort. 

He had told her that no matter what had happened between the two of them, they were still friends. One bad interaction shouldn’t block the way of the two of them reconnecting. Keith had recognized the irony in his sentence as soon as he had said it. 

So now Keith, Allura, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, Romelle, and Shiro stand in front of the window at Luca.

“So who is going into the room?” Allura asks, breaking the silence. Logically, letting seven people into an infirmary room at once to question the patient isn’t wise.

Shiro hums as he thinks, “Well, Romelle seems to know Luca the best out of all of us. And she already volunteered to wanting to talk to Luca again. Allura should go in too; seeing Allura there will hopefully keep her calm, as long as she isn’t hostile. I’ll follow too; I have a couple questions I want to ask her.”

Keith frowns when he hears that he won’t be going in. Ever since Luca had woken up, no matter what he was doing during the day, he had felt a heavy presence near him. As if someone were watching him. It felt as if someone was calling out to him.

Thinking about it kept making Keith anxious, so he would immediately go to the training room until he felt better.

However, it could very well be the stress of the mission getting to him. But either way, he didn’t feel comfortable enough to mention this to anyone, not even his mom.

Besides, everyone already have enough to worry about, nobody needs Keith’s paranoia added on top of everything.

And standing in front of Luca’s room, the strong and unfortunately familiar presence, was back. This time it feels a lot stronger.

Turning to face Shiro, Keith speaks, “I want to go in too.”

Surprised, Shiro stares at Keith. He doesn’t break eye contact. “W-what? Why?”

Normally, Keith would be amused at a stuttering Shiro - Keith always thought that Shiro was cute when he stuttered - but not this time. Something is off, and if Keith doesn’t figured out what it is soon, he is going to go insane.

Keith looks away from Shiro, instead looking back at Luca. “I don’t know, but I have to go in there. Something has been eating away at me for a while, and I feel like if I go in the room too, whatever it is, I’ll get an answer as to whatever this feeling is.” Keith turns back to Shiro, practically begging, “Please Shiro, let me go in the room too.”

Maybe whatever wall that Shiro put up around Keith finally started to crumble; maybe it’s the fact that Keith is actually begging Shiro for something, whatever it is, Shiro agrees to let Keith into the room too. 

Luca looks up from her datapad when the door opens. Her expression doesn’t change much when they enter, but since she isn’t yelling and accusing them of betrayal, Keith is grateful as she silently watches them all stop in front of her.

Shiro takes a step forward and puts on a friendly smile. Keith can’t remember the last time he saw Shiro smile. 

“My name is Takashi Shirogane, but you can call me Shiro; I am the Captain of the Atlas. These are a few of my friends,” He says as he gestures behind him. He then gestures to Keith, “This is Keith. He is the Leader of Voltron. And I assume you already know Princess Allura.”

Luca doesn’t say anything for a moment and Keith briefly fears of her lashing out. But his fears quickly evaporate when she smiles. “Yes, I do know of Princess Allura. We heard many great things about her and her family.” Her smile falters when she looks at Romelle, “Romelle, I want to apologize for all the things I had said to you before. I would never want to say such awful things to you.” 

Romelle sighs, relieved. She smiles and walks up to Luca and takes her hand. “I forgive you Luca. I understand.”

Shiro frowns and continues, “Luca, do you know what happened to you? Do you know what would cause such an intense reaction?”

Luca looks down at her lap and she sighs. “Yes, I do know what had happened. The witch had found our colony a while back and brainwashed all the Alteans there. There was some sort of energy that she used on us,” She looks up at Shiro, fear in her eyes, “We weren’t able to fight back. She could make us do whatever she wished and we would have no other choice but to comply. And if we somehow resisted, the entities inside us would kill us instantly.”

Dread courses through Keith as he listens to her talk. That connection he felt towards Luca seems to grow stronger. As terrified as he is, Keith has to know more. 

“She was quick to make a plan. She planned to use quintessence and create robots that your crew found me in. She was going to use them to end Voltron because she blames you for taking everything she ever loved and cared about away.”

Shivers run down Keith’s spine at her words. But something isn’t right; he isn’t sure what it is though. “Is it safe to assume that there is still in entity inside you?” Keith asks; he doesn’t have to look to see Shiro and Allura quickly turn to face Keith.

Luca frowns and doesn’t respond right away. She looks as if she is concentrating. Eventually, she turns back to face Keith. “Back on the colony, when she used the entities, we were able to feel when they were in control,” She gives Keith a reassuring smile but Keith doesn’t feel reassured, “I know the feeling when I am no longer in control. I felt lost and empty. As if I was in a dark room, and unable to move.  I could hear her whispering her orders to me, and I knew that I followed them.

“But I can understand your reluctance to trust me after what I have done and after everything I have told you. But if it helps anything, I don’t feel her control over me anymore. I don’t feel the entity.”

The concerning part is is that Keith believes her. He believes her when she says that she can’t feel her control slipping from her grasp and into Honerva’s. But Keith knows that the entity remains inside Luca. It may not be in control now, but that doesn’t mean that that can change at anytime.

The pulling grows stronger. But now, Keith thinks he may know where he is being pulled towards.

He just doesn’t know why

* * *

They get a distress signal on a desolate plant nearby. Shiro assigns Voltron to go down as check out the planet, Atlas staying behind just in case it's an ambush.

As the five of them are heading towards the door to get to the loins, Shiro stops them. They turn to face the captain.

His eyes are soft as he looks at them. He has something shining in his eyes that Keith hasn’t seen in a very long time, he isn’t sure what it is, but it calms, he when he notices it.

“Guys, please be careful,” Shiro says without his usually commanding tone; instead, it’s that of a dear friend.

And with that, the paladins head to the hangars.

* * *

The lions land on the surface of the planet. The sand is grey, lifeless; what appears to be dead and fallen trees are now only withering sticks. In the dark grey sky, smoke is carried upward. A smoking volcano lays miles ahead from where they landed. 

The planet is bare, and there are no signs of any living creature within a couple hundred miles radius.

Keith sees Hunk’s face appear on the comm. He looks confused. “Anyone find it odd that there is a distress signal coming from this planet?” Hunk asks. 

Pidge’s face pops up next. “I’m reading high CO2 and low oxygen in the atmosphere. We’ll need our suits to breathe if we go out there.”

Hearing Pidge list of the planet’s atmospheric conditions does make Keith suspicious about the distress signal. But they should still look around, incase there really is someone in need of help.

“I’m not going out there.” Hunk says with a deadpan stare.

Before Keith can tell him otherwise, the radar in Black beeps. Keith looks up into the sky and sees a large Galra ship above them. 

“Paladins, get airborne immediately! This is a trap!” Keith berates himself for not being more cautious. They should’ve scanned the planet for anyone instead of immediately flying down to the surface where it would be very easy to be taken down by an enemy.

All the lions scatter and take air but before they can get out of range, the Galra ship fires a laser, sending the lions back down to the surface, immobile.

“It’s just like that time when we were caught by those pirates.” Hunk shouts over the comms.

‘We’re about to be captured again.” Lance states.

Keith tries desperately to get Black to move, but the laser in unrelenting. If they stay in the lions, they will be captured. Keith refuses to let them all get captured by the Galra again. “Emergency ejection,” Keith quickly shouts. 

Keith hurriedly exits Black, running out from underneath the laser. He fires his thrusters, the others close behind. A Galra battlecruiser shoots lasers at them but none of them land a hit.

They all desperately try to connect the Atlas, but they receive no answer.

“The Atlas isn’t receiving any communications!” Pidge relays.

They weave through gaps and crevices, trying to get out of sight of the Galra cruiser. Eventually, they are able to duck back a raised platform and the cruiser continues flying overhead. 

From their hiding spot, the lions and the Galra ship are in clear sight. 

“That laser has the lions pinned,” Hunk states, dismayed. 

“We must have been set up. But by whom?” Allura questions as she stares up at the Galra ship.

Keith can think of only a few people who would go to the trouble to fake a distress signal on a deserted planet, only to be a trap. The rest are either dead or their whereabouts are unknown.

Keith hears a faint beeping that is steadily growing louder. He sees Pidge get tense. “guys, we have incoming. It’s closing fast.” The Galra cruiser stops above them and is quick to start shooting. They leap from their hiding spot and start running to avoid the lasers.

Keith fires his thrusters to avoid all the dead trees that have previously fallen to the ground. He hears the others feet hitting the ground as they avoid the cruiser.

“We need to lose it,” Hunk shouts as he avoids another laser that hits the ground a few feet ahead of him.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to throw it off our scent?” Lance desperately asks over the comms.

Pidge claims that she has an idea but she needs time, and with the cruiser hot on their trail, it would make her plan much more difficult to achieve. Luckily, Hunk is able to by Pidge time; he fires at the cruiser, along with mini cannons he fired onto the trees.

Keith stands in front of Pidge and Allura, shield up to block any lasers shot at them. Pidge shouts triumphantly and the cruiser stops its attack. “It shouldn’t be able to detect up anymore.” 

Keith sighs in relief and lowers his shield. The cruiser lowers it’s shield but it doesn’t start firing again. It flies off in a different direction, hoping to lock onto their location. But thanks to Pidge, it hopefully won’t come back.

Keith holds his breath as he watches the cruiser turn around slowly, looking for them. He internally berets himself when the cruiser spots them and begins another round of lasers. 

Keith hurries behind another rock formation that blocks the attacks. Hunk is the last one to get cover; Keith is relieved when it seems that he wasn’t hit.

“We need something to draw it’s attention,” Keith shouts, knowing that they won’t be able to hold their cover for much longer.

“I’ve got it!” Allura shouts, running back up to where the cruiser’s line of sight. Keith watches as Allura wraps her whip around the base of a tree, cutting it in half. The cruiser flies out from under the tree before it could get hit.

Keith waits a moment as the cruiser doesn’t move. Getting a sense to where the cruiser is, Keith throws his sword and it buries itself into the front of the ship. The cruiser falls to the ground, offline.

Keith summons his bayard back into his hand as the others run out from behind the formation.

“Huh, good job Keith,” Lance starts; Keith narrows his eyes in annoyance as Lance keeps talking, “I mean, I was just about to do that, too, but that’s cool.”

“I might be able to hack into it,”Pidge says, a relieved smile on her face. She walks over to the ship as the flames die down. Hunk crouches down next to Pidge as she hacks into the ship’s system. Allura, Keith, and Lance stand behind her as they wait.

The Galra ship was apparently infused with Olkari elements. She continues to go on about how the subatomic micro-filament is single modulated. Keith isn’t too sure what that means, but when Hunk says that it isn’t double modulated, Pidge quickly shuts down Hunk’s comment, irritation leaking through her voice. 

“This thing has been locking on to our key encryption protocol that’s built into our suits and bayards,” Pidge says, seemingly amazed by this.

“How did they get that?” Keith questions. He isn’t sure how their attacker would be able to get their hands on their suits protocols, but the fact that they did worries him.

“I don’t know. Only a genius could do it.”

“Can’t we just turn our suits off?” Lance suggests. Keith wishes it could be that easy but he knows it won’t be. Nothing about what they have been through has been easy.

“Negative,” Pidge confirms his thought, “If the drone had our encryption protocol, so does that cruiser and anyone on it. If we want to avoid detection, we need to lose our suits and our bayards.”

“Remove our armor? In this place?” Allura asks. Keith can understand her hesitation, but this is probably their best bet.

Hunk is quick to state his own hesitation with the plan, “Has anyone read the atmosphere? Oxygen low, CO2 high. We’re not going to last long. A few hours, tops. We need our suits to survive.”

“Yeah, at this point, we’ll survive longer without them,” Long enough to evade their enemy and get back to their lions.

“So keep our suits on and risk getting blasted, or take our suits off and live long enough before dying from poisoned air,” Lance says and he turns to Keith, “You’re the leader, you make the call.” 

The others turn to him too, waiting for his answer. If they keep the suits on, they will quickly be found by the Galra and will quickly be overpowered. If they take off the suits, they will be able to evade the Galra but be put at risk from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. 

But like Hunk said, they will succumb to the poisoning in a few hours; so long that they are quick and avoid confrontation, they can get their lions back and they can take care of the Galra.

However, if the Galra were to still find them, they would be defenseless and no way to fight back. The Galra need to be lead away so they have a clear path to the lions.

“Ok,” Keith starts, the plan all figured out, “You four are going to take off your armor and quickly make your way back to the lions. You should be fine as long as you don’t run into any Galra. I’ll keep my armor on and lead the Galra up to the volcano.” Keith says pointing to said volcano, “You guys will then make your way back to the Atlas so they can take down the ship. Then you can come back down to the surface to pick me up.”

Keith doesn’t mention how he plans to get the jump on the Galra if the plan works. They just need to worry about getting to the lions. 

They all nod in agreement, but they still send each other scared looks. “Hey,” Keith says, drawing their attention, “It’ll be alright. I promise.”

* * *

Shiro starts to grow worried when he doesn’t hear from the paladins for a while. He had ordered that the Atlas stay behind while Voltron go down to the surface to check out where the distress signal came from. They were only to interfere if it was a trap, but with no response back halts the Atlas from following after his friends.

“Keith, any updates on who sent the signal?” Shiro says over the comms. He waits a moment before Veronica says that Voltron responded.

“ _ We found where the signal came from. We are just finishing up and we will be on our way.”  _ Keith says over the comms.

Shiro frowns when he hears the message. Something isn’t right, but Shiro brushes it off and decides he must be tired.

But his suspicion and worry grow when they wait another half hour and Voltron still hasn’t come back.

“Veronica,” Shiro says and the brunette turns around in her chair to face him, “Check in with Voltron.” Veronica nods and turns back around. 

“Everything okay down there, Keith? Do you need any help from the Atlas?” She asks and an immediate response comes through.

_ “No assistance required, thank you. Lance will figure it out.” _

Veronica snorts. Shiro smirks too, knowing that his time in Voltron that Lance isn’t all to great with navigating.There were many instances where Lance claimed he could found the way out, but continued to lead them astray.

“Right, Lance, the navigation genius.” Veronica smugly says. Being his sister, she obviously knows Lance is hopeless with navigating.

_ “Affirmative.” _ Keith responds and Shiro blood runs cold.

No, no, no, something is wrong. Shiro knows from experience that Lance and Keith never really got along with on the Castle of Lions, except on a few occasions. But Keith was too prideful to admit that Lance was excelled at something. While the rivalry might’ve been one-sided, Keith was still quick to compete against Lance.

Shiro also notices how serious Keith sounds. While Keith may have had a problem with authority when he was younger, he still tried to be respectful to higher-ups. Shiro excludes the time when Keith stole his car.

That was only about self-preservation. But Keith matured and slowly opened up to his friends. So Keith should have no reason to sound so formal.

“Curtis, check their comm frequency, something is wrong.” Curtis nods and he checks their frequency. 

“It looks like their frequency has been pinging off a decoy. I’m intercepting it now.”

A flood of messages pop up on the screen, all the paladins shouting that the Distress signal was a trap, that they need help quickly. Fear washes over Shiro as he thinks about what could’ve happened to the Paladins.

To Keith.

* * *

Keith starts heading up to the top of the volcano, hoping his plan works and he draws the Galra up after him. With as much danger as his friends are already in - not having their suits - he doesn’t want the Galra after them while they are defenseless.

He fires his thrusters and leaps over a stream of lava. He looks up at the volcano, knowing he still has a long way to go.

* * *

The Atlas was able to take down the Galra ship that was rendering the lions immobile. Shiro went down the hanger where the pirate was already taken from his ship. 

“Sophisticated hacking and jamming abilities,” The pirate says as he watches two more of his crew mates being lead into the Atlas, “Impressive. It’s nice to find others on my level.” He turns back to Shiro.

“Yeah, it’s terrific,” Shiro says, unimpressed, “Now where’s your leader?”

“I don’t know. I lost her signal when you attacked. but she’s out there somewhere, hunting down the Paladin you call ‘Keith’.” The pirate grins when he relays this to Shiro.

Shiro snaps, his floating arm shooting out and grabbing the pirate around the neck, lifting him until his feet are several inches above the ground. Shiro doesn’t hear Axca and Veronica shouting in surprise.

“What does she want with Keith?” Shiro growls out to the pirate. His expression doesn’t change in the face of Shiro’s anger, instead, he just grows more smug.

“I don’t know what she wants with him. But if you wish to save him from his fate, standing here isn’t going to get you anywhere..”

Axca rests her hand on Shiro’s shoulder. “Let him go Shiro,” She says softly, “We have to go find Keith and help him.”

Shiro holds the pirate up for a moment longer before he sets him back on his feet. The pirate gasps in air and he bends over his knees. Shiro grits his teeth and exits the hanger. He quickly makes his way to the armory. 

No matter what Shiro had done to put distance between him and Keith, he can not let the pirate leader hurt Keith. 

* * *

When Keith gets to the top of the Volcano, he sheds his armor. As soon as his helmet is off, he can feel just how hard the air is to breath. Standing at the top of the volcano doesn’t help anything as it is making the air unbearably hot. Smoke fills his lungs as he breaths, but he pushes on; the pirates will find him up here soon.

He stacks his armor up against a boulder and gets out of sight. He soon hears a pirate making their way up to the top of the volcano. He watches as she points her laser gun at his suit, but she falters when she realizes that it is just a suit.

Keith sees his opportunity and runs up behind her. Just as she turns around, Keith lifts his fist and punches her in the face. She falls to the ground, unconscious.

Keith grunts and he continues climbing higher up the volcano. He falls to his knees as he tries to breath. He then notices a pair of large boots standing before him. He looks up at the massive pirate. 

The pirate reaches up and unclasps the mask from their armor. Keith is shocked when he sees that it is Zethrid standing before him. She drops the mask on the ground with a thud. 

The last time he had seen Zethrid was when they were all making their way back to Earth. But Ezor and Zethrid had taken them hostage. They were really close then, so Keith wonders what had happened for Zethrid to be standing here without the other.

“You took Ezor from me!” She yells; she lunges at Keith, going to punch him, but he rolls out of the way and instead of Keith’s face, her large fist slams into the rocks; the rocks crack and fly into the air in pieces.

Keith grabs his dagger from his belt and watches as she rushes at him raising her fist; Keith ducks and swings his sword but Zethrid grabs Keith’s arm in one massive fist and throws him to the ground. 

He grunts when his back impacts the ground but he quickly gets back on his feet. Zethrid runs up to him and dodges Keith’s swipe at her. Keith raises his arm to, hopefully, block her next punch but Keith gets sent to the ground. He rolls down into a crater and faces Zethrid as she follows him down.

She once again charges at Keith but Keith evades and instead she runs into the wall. The impact doesn’t affect her and she charges again, once more. Keith swings his sword, hoping to land a hit. 

Zethrid blocks his blade with her fist and gives Keith an uppercut. Keith groans as he is crashes into the ground, his face erupting in excruciating pain. Zethrid leaps above Keith, both fists raised.

Too weak to move, Keith closes his eyes, bracing for impact. However, Zethrid lands a little ways away from Keith and she slams her fists into the ground instead. Her shout echos off the towering rock formations around the center of the volcano. Keith gasps, desperately trying to breath through the hot and poisonous air.

Grunting, Keith gets back on his feet as Zethrid slowly corners him to the ledge, lava down below. “I don’t know… what you think I did.” Keith gasps out to the enraged Galra hybrid.

“You took away everything. And now my face will be the last one you see!” She charges at Keith; Keith slashes at Zethrid but she grabs his wrists and twists. His wrist throbs and he drops his sword. Zethri grasps his jaw harshly and lift him up off the ground. 

Both of Keith’s hands grapple at her forearm, trying to get leverage to pull out of her grasp. His throat is squeezed and Keith chokes on air. His lungs burn; his head throbs; his limbs feel weak, useless; his vision blurs; his body trembles in exhaustion; he wants to close his eyes and leave the pain behind. 

Zethrid puts Keith back on the ground but she doesn't let go of him. An arm that is as long as his torso and as thick as his waist is put around his neck, pulling him up against Zethrid. She pulls out her gun when Axca and Shiro land in front of the, but well out of reach. One of the MFE pilots hover above them all. Keith can barely focus on it; his head is pounding to the point were focusing on anything is too difficult.

Shiro takes a small step forward; he raises his hands when Zethrid aims her gun at him. “Zethrid, let him go.” Shiro says, voice firm.

Keith focuses on Shiro. He always liked Shiro’s voice. Shiro always soothed him when he was distressed, made him laugh when was upset, sometimes Shiro never said anything, his presence alone calmed him. Shiro and Keith would just sit, Shiro’s arm around Keith, keeping him close.

“I knew you would come,” She sneers, “Now you will know what I felt.”

“It’s over Zethrid.” Axca says, staring straight at Zethrid. “You’re surrounded.”

“You think this deters me? I welcome death now that Ezor’s gone.”

Axca takes off her helmet and speaks softly. “Zethrid, I know you hurt. I understand the pain you feel, the pain for Ezor now that she is gone”

“Stop!” Zethrid shouts.

“Zethrid, you don’t need to do this,” Shiro says softly, but he doesn’t try moving any closer. “I may not have known Ezor as well as you, but I know she wouldn’t want this of you.”

“No! I’m too far gone. Even if she were still here, she would never take me back!” Zethrid tightens her grasp around Keith’s neck. Keith grunts in pain and tries to suck in what little air he can. His hands jump to Zethrid’s forearm, trying to break free from her immovable hold.

“Zethrid please! You can’t let rage control you!” Shiro says, desperate to get through to Zethrid.

“All I have left… is revenge!” She raises her gun and Keith’s eyes widen when he sees that she is aiming it at Shiro.

A shot is fired and Keith feels weightless. He falls on to his back. He sees Zethrid falling off the ledge; Keith scrambles to catch her before she falls out of reach and into the lava below. 

Keith grunts when he grasps her hand, her weight trying to pull him down too.

He refuses to let go.

He feels a hands grab his shoulders; one metal, the other human.

_ Shiro _

Shiro pulls him and Zethrid up, yelling to the others that he got them both. He drags the two of them away from the ledge. Keith, bent over with his hands on his knees, desperately sucking in the poisonous and hot air. His body is on fire.

“Keith,” he hears Shiro ask, “Are you okay?” Keith nods in response and Shiro hurries over to where Zethrid lays motionless on the ground.

Keith remembers the gun Zethrid had aimed at Shiro and he quickly looks back up to a blurry figure of Shiro as he checks over Zethrid. Keith sighs, relieved, that he seems unharmed. Keith sags and falls to his knees. His vision blurs and he sways. 

Keith starts coughing, deep and harsh, into his hand. He pulls his hand away from his mouth, only to see blood. He takes in short uneven breaths. His body feels heavy, like lead. 

Keith’s eyes droop; he’s exhausted.   


He doesn’t notice when Shiro turns back around to check on him. He doesn’t hear him say that they found his armor. Keith collapses onto his stomach, laying on the warm yet hard ground. His body is numb. He can’t feel anything anymore. Maybe that’s a good thing. 

He continues to take in short puffs of air, unable to breath in any deeper; unable to think; unable to hear; unable to see.

Keith eyes finally slide shut and all that surrounds him now is blackness.

* * *

The first thing that Keith registers is the pain. His head throbs, his muscles ache, his lungs burn. Keith groans and he blinks his eyes open but promptly shuts them when the light above blinds him.

“Guys! He woke up!” He hears someone exclaim excitedly. He sluggishly realizes that it is Romelle.

Keith opens his eyes once more and he sees Pidge, Lance, Hunk, Romelle, and Allura surrounding his bed. Romelle, Allura sit closer to the end of the bed, but Pidge sits closer to Keith. A bright yet relieved smile spreads across Pidges face when their eyes meet.

“Keith!”  Hunk exclaims from the end of his bed, a huge smile gracing his face. He watches as Lance pulls out a datapad and starts frantically tapping on it.

“How are you feeling Keith?” Allura asks him, her hand laying on his ankle.

“I’ve been better,” Keith says, voice raspy and sore. He grunts as he tries to sit up, but Romelle hurries over to support him. “What did I miss?” Keith asks. Lance comes back with a cup and offers it to Keith. Keith nods in thanks and accepts the cup.

“Nothing much…” Hunk shrugs, yet the others say otherwise when they all start talking. Allura mentions the Blades helping with Red, Pidge starts excitedly ranting about the healing pods, and Romelle says something and Shiro and his mom watching over him while he was in the healing pod.

“Oh, and your armor is with me. I’ve cleaned it for you.” Hunk mentions once it goes quiet. 

Keith feels warmth flood through his at Hunk’s generosity. It really wasn't necessary for him to clean his armor, but Hunk is sweet like that. Always going out of his way to help anyone in anyway that his can. 

“Thank you Hunk,” Keith says, looking up to Hunk, “You didn’t need to…” Keith trials off.

“I don’t mind. I wanted to.” He gives Keith a fond smile and Keith feels his face heat up. Even after everything they all went through together, Keith is still unsure how to react when someone does something for him He looks down at his cup the is cradled in his hands. Suddenly, a thought strikes him.

“Have you seen my blade?” He asks Hunk, but Keith fear grows when Hunk smile falls.

“They only gave me your armor,” He says softly.

“Oh…”

“Im sorry Keith.” Keith shakes his head. Hunk has nothing to apologize for. If anything, it’s Keith’s fault for losing it. He has had it for pretty much his whole life. He brought it everywhere he went, for it kept the connection between him and his past alive. It kept him connected to his mother.

But it’s gone now.

Keith sits silently in his bed as the others start talking. But something is missing, and Keith knows who is missing.

“Where’s Shiro?” Keith asks.

Pidge pauses her rant about a new robot idea her and Matt have come up with, and she turns towards Keith. “Maybe on the bridge?” She says uncertain, “He left just before you woke. He said he had some things he had to sort out.”

Allura give Keith knowing grin. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t hurt or anything.”

Before Keith can explain, the door to Keith’s room opens and his mom stands there, a wide grin and teary eyes. “Keith.” She breathes.

Keith smiles, “Hi mom.” He is so happy to see his mom again. The last time he saw her was the day before launch day. There was a heartfelt goodbye and promises to see eachother again soon. And before Keith had went to his room for the night, his mom and returned her blade to him; she told him to be safe.

Keith looks down at the reminder of the blade, “I… I’m sorry I lost your blade. I-” His mom envelops him is a strong hug before Keith can finish. He freezes for a brief moment before he returns the embrace.

“You’re okay! I was so worried!” She squeezes, tightening her hold on her son. Keith grunts softly but he doesn’t say anything. 

She eventually pulls away and she cups Keith’s face in her hands. She strokes his cheek with her thumbs and gives him a loving smile.

“Someone was waiting for you to wake up,” She says and hope ignites inside Keith. 

The door opens once more and Krolia moves away from Keith to give him a clear view to who entered the room.

“Shiro.” Keith says softly. Shiro meets Keith’s gaze and gives him a weak smile. Shiro looks paler and has bags under his eyes. Keith looks back to his mom, his eyes pleading. “Can you give us a moment?” 

Krolia nods and ushers the others out of the room. They all say goodbye to Keith while they are pushed out of his room.

The door closes and the silence stretches between the two. It starts to grow awkward. 

Eventually, Shiro breaks the silence. “How are you doing?” His voice is hoarse and tired and Keith wonders if Shiro slept at all since the ambush.

“I’m doing better.”

The silence returns; Keith can't remember the last time they had such an awkward and fragile interaction. Shiro was someone Keith had always relied on. He always comforted Keith when he was upset or when his temper got the better of him. He made Keith laugh when all Keith wanted was to disappear.

Even with their rocky start, Shiro was always there for Keith; even when Keith would get frustrated with Shiro and how persistent he was to get through Keith’s walls.

When he eventually reached Keith’s core and changed Keith’s life for the better, Keith did everything he could to repay Shiro’s kindness.

At some point, Keith had fallen for Shiro. Even when Shiro was engaged to Adam, Keith kept his feelings inside and hidden away from the world. He knew that if Shiro ever found out, everything would change. 

But then they broke up and Shiro left for Kerberos. Keith supported him in his decisions, even if his choices would eventually kill him. Keith refused to keep Shiro grounded, not like Adam. Shiro wanted to be with the stars. And who would Keith be if he kept Shiro from his dreams.

Keith loves Shiro, but somewhere along the way, Keith messed up and Shiro no longer loves him in return.

“What did I do?” Keith asks, voice echoing in the room. 

Shiro’s head whips up, shocked. “What?”

“I must’ve done something. I don’t know what else might’ve happened for you to suddenly hate me.”

“Wha-? No, Keith you didn't do anything.” Shiro says frantically and he hurried over to Keith’s bedside. However, he makes no move to touch Keith.

“Then why have you pushed me away? Ever since the cloning facility, you have been so distant. But not just with me, you’ve distanced yourself away from the others too.”

Shiro sighs and he looks down at his hand, as if ashamed. “No Keith, it’s nothing you did. It’s everything that I have done to you. In every way that I left and hurt you,” He looks back up to Keith and Keith’s heart breaks from all the pain he sees in Shiro's eyes.

“I almost killed you Keith. You have almost died for me so many times. And I feared that you would continue to go to great lengths to save me, and it would eventually kill you..”

“Shiro…” Keith starts, he wishes that he could reach out and grab Shiro’s hand, but he knows that he isn’t allowed to. “Everything I did for you was to save you. And if I got hurt along the way, then it would be my fault for not being careful enough. Nothing was your fault. Not even the cloning facility was your fault.

“But yes, I did get hurt. But it doesn’t matter because you are still alive. And I know that after my confession to you, you probably don’t feel the same. But if just being friends with you is what it takes to be close to you again, then that’s fine with me.”

Shiro is silent for a moment as he processes what Keith said, so Keith stays quiet as he waits.

Shiro’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he looks at Keith again. “What confession?”

Keith lowers his eyes from Shiro. Ever since Shiro’s consciousness was put into the clone’s body, Keith held onto the question of whether or not Shiro remembered anything the clone had experiences.

At least now he has the answer to his question.

Even if it wasn’t what he was hoping for.

“Our fight at the cloning facility,” Keith starts softly, “I was pinned and I was trying to get through to you. So I told you that I love you. I saw how that broke Honerva’s control on you, albeit brief.” 

Keith sighs. “I didn’t expect you to remember it. And if you did, I knew that you probably didn’t feel the same,” he laughs bitterly, “I guess I was right in the end.”

“Wha- Keith no. Why would you think that?” Shiro asks, and he does grab keith’s hand then but Keith doesn't think too much into it.

“When we got back from the Galra ship with Honerva’s beast, we were all told to meet in the control room. I walked in and I saw you talking to Curtis.” Keith looks back up at Shiro and is surprised to see him close to tears. “You looked happy talking to him Shiro. You were laughing and smiling. I’ve tried so hard to make you happy again, but I don’t think I ever really did. I just brought you down. And you don’t deserve that.” Keith’s voice cracks and his eyes flood with tear. “You deserve to be happy. And if it isn’t with me, then let it be with Curtis.”

“Keith,” Shiro whispers. He rests his real hand on Keith cheek, right over the scar. “I don’t feel for Curtis the way you seem to think I do. And besides, Curtis doesn’t know anything that I’ve gone through over the years. And talking about it has always been hard. But being with you, you always made it so much easier. I don’t have to pretend to be okay. I know that when I am with you that I can let everything out and you'll be there to support me.”

Shiro gets sheepish look in his eyes, “I do remember you telling me you loved me. But you had said that I was a brother,” Shiro rubs his thumb over the scar, a smile making its way back onto Shiro’s face, “But now I see that that isn’t what you meant. And I love you too Keith. I love you so much.”

Shiro leans down and gently presses his lips against Keith’s. Keith hums happily and nd rests his hands on Shiro’s broad shoulders. 

Shiro is the one to break the kiss but he rests his forehead against Keith’s, a bright smile on his face

“I love you Keith.”

“I love you too Shiro.”

“Takashi.” Shiro says and Keith gives him a confused look. Shiro chuckles at his expression. “Call me Takashi.”

Keith can’t help but grin so wide that his cheeks hurt. He knows how intimate it is to call Shiro by his first name. He never thought that he would be allowed to call him Takashi though; he had convinced himself that they would never be more than friends. 

But Shiro just keeps surprising him.

“Ok Takashi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of the chapter was so difficult to write. I don’t do feelings.
> 
> But it’s done now... :)
> 
> (Also I want to thank [@LupinChopang](https://mobile.twitter.com/LupinChopang) for letting me use their [comic](https://mobile.twitter.com/LupinChopang/status/1078683843765317633))


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I found you, Takashi,” Keith says softly as he walks over. He gently takes the datapad from Shiro and sits down on his lap, legs on either side of Shiro’s hips.

The camera beeps and whirs, Ryan Kinkade coming into focus. He backs up and checks his watch. He looks back up into the camera. “Hello. This is Lieutenant Ryan Kinkade, MFE pilot. The time is 0600 hours. It’s day 47. And this is a glimpse at the day-to-day life aboard the IGF Atlas.

“Last night I unpacked my video gear and decided to document the crew,” Kinkade states as he walks out of the room and into his bedroom. In one on the beds lays a sleeping Ina, snoring. “I know it seems strange but before Earth was attacked, I didn't go anywhere without my camera.”

* * *

Kinkade walks along the wall of one the MFE ships. Rizavi comes into view, arms crossed and frowning. Kinkade jumps when he sees her. 

“So your really shooting another documentary?” She smirks and walks closer to Kinkade, “Please tell me this is going to be more interesting than that project you did for Mr. Pollard’s biology class about yeast.”

Kinkade raises an eyebrow, unimpressed. “That was actually about the process of fermentation. Yeast converts carbohydrates in carbon diox-”

“Boring,” Rizavi interrupts. Kinkade gawks, and gives the other MFE pilot an annoyed look, “Okay, look, if this little documentary is how history will remember us, I’m gonna help you spruce it up!” She claims and walks towards the camera. Kinkade looks at her, unsure but gradually looks more annoyed. “How many cameras do you have? What’s your visual effect budget like? Do you have any smoke bombs?”

Kinkade groans.

* * *

The camera focuses on Keith and Pidge sitting at a table. 

“Okay, we’re all set,” Kinkade says from behind the camera. He zooms in on Pidge, who blankly stares at the camera.

“So, uh, catch us up as to what is going on,” Rizavi's says from behind the camera.

Pidge sits up straighter and smiles, “Right. Well, the Atlas is headed to the Grei-Aye system where we’ve received another distress signal. But we are pretty certain that Hagger or one of her followers had sent it.”

“Ooh, that sounds pretty dangerous,” Rizavi marvels.

Pidge continues, choosing not to respond to Rizavi’s excitement, “So once the Atlas arrives in orbit around the planet, the other paladins and I will head down to the surface and investigate where the signal is coming from.”

“Uh, okay,” Rizavi groans and the camera shifts to Keith. “Keith! Why don’t  _ you _ tell us about the dangers of this mission?”

Keith raises an eyebrow but compiles, “Well, every mission has some inherent dangers. For this one, we have to be especially diligent about possible Druids in the area. Even from the brief encounters we’ve had, Druids prove to be an extreme threat. Combine that with any of Hagger’s follower, that may be in the vicinity,  and you’ve potentially got threats on multiple fronts.” Keith says, unaware of Hunk walking behind him and into the frame. 

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Hunk grins at them, “You making a movie? Cool. Can I be in it?” Hunk smile fades into a frown, “Now, wait if this is an action movie… is it? I don’t want to be in it.” 

“Hunk,” Rizavi says, annoyed, “We’re trying to do an interview, here.”

Hunk gives her an apologetic look, “Oh sorry. My bad. I just wanted to see if you wanted to try this new recipe I’ve been experimenting with.” Hunk says, holding up the serving tray in his hands. He takes off the lid and the camera moves to a different angle. 

A pastry sits on the serving tray and Hunk looks up to the camera. “This is just the first pass. The final version will be coming soon.”

Bebe, the Holt’s dog, whines and jumps for the pastry.

Hunk moves the tray away from Bebe’s reach, “No Bebe! Not for you!”

The camera shifts to Bebe, sitting on the floor, staring at Hunk. Hunk comes back into view, smiling down at the dog. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’ll make you some doggy treats later.”

“What’s the recipe?” Kinkade asks, drawing Hunks attention away from the begging dog. “Can we watch you work?”

Bebe starts jumping for the pastry again but Hunk doesn’t seem to notice. “Well, Yeah! Yeah, this’ll be great!” Hunk exclaims, excitedly. “I’ve secretly always wanted my own cooking show.”

Rizavi runs into view, irritated from being interrupted. “What, no! Keith was just telling us about the mission and all the dangers! We’re not losing that to document cooking.”

“But, I like cooking.” Kinkade dejectedly says. 

Rizavi growls and crossed her arms. “It’s like you're trying to make this boring.”

Hunk turns to Rizavi, “Woah, first of all, cooking is not boring, okay?” Hunks defends, “And it can bring people together. Some of the best times were spent baking bread with loved ones.”

Keith’s face comes into view, impatient. “So is this interview over? Because if it is, I am going to go find Shiro.”

“No,” Rizavi snaps, “Great, now the talent is getting restless.”

_ “MFE pilots, report to the conference room. I repeat, report to the conference room.”  _ Iverson yells over the comms.

Rizavi groans and spins to Keith and Pidge, “Stay there. This interview is not finished.” Her and Kinkade leave the room.

The door closes and Hunk turns to his friends, “Well, I am going back to the kitchen. I have to finish this recipe.” Hunk starts towards the doors, but turns around and looks at Pidge and Keith, “Do either of you want to help?”

Pidge jumps out of her seat, dragging Hunk out the door, claiming how she wants to be his taste tester. Keith smiles after them, but leaves shortly after, mumbling about how he is going to find Shiro.

Out of the camera’s view, Bebe starts whining. He starts jumping and eventually grabs the camera in his mouth.

Bebe pants as he runs down the hallway, only the hallway floor in shot. An elevator door opens and Bebe goes inside. Elevator music plays softly while he waits for the door to open. 

When it does, he runs out and starts down the hallway. He suddenly stops and turns his head. The kitchen door is open, Pidge pushes herself onto the counter while Hunk gathers ingredients. The camera falls to the floor when Bebe hurridly runs into the kitchen, kicking the camera in his haste.

The camera rolls down the hallways and into a vent. Inside the vent is an opening and the camera falls through it and lands on the Rec room floor.

Shiro is sitting on the couch, reading on his datapad, and Kosmo is sitting on the floor by his feet. The door  _ whooshes _ open and Keith strolls in. He smiles when he sees Shiro.

“I found you, Takashi,” Keith says softly as he walks over. He gently takes the datapad from Shiro and sits down on his lap, legs on either side of Shiro’s hips.

Shiro smiles and kisses Keith. His arms wind around Keith’s waist and pull him closer. “I was hoping you would,” Shiro says, “Where have you been?”

Keith grimaces and leans his head on Shiro’s shoulder. “Kinkade and Rizavi found Pidge and I, and Rizavi asked if she could interview us about our next mission,” Shiro laughs softly, and Keith continues, “Why were the others told to go to the conference room?”

“Well, I thought they could run through drills. We don’t know who or what we will run into. And with the threat of Honerva showing up at any time, it would be best if they were prepared.”

“So why are you in here then? Not that I don’t want you here. You have to make up for this morning when you left so early.” Keith says, lifting his head up to give the other a look. Shiro gives him a sheepish one in return.

“I asked Iverson if he could lead them through the drills,” Shiro says. He unwinds his left hand from around Keith and cups his cheek, rubbing his thumb over the scar. His love for Keith shines brightly in his eyes, “I wanted to spend time with you. I wanted to make up for lost time.” 

Keith blushes and looks down. He burrows into Shiro’s neck and mumbles something incoherent, but Shiro seems to understand what he said nonetheless, “I love you too, baby.”

The two sit there for a while, undisturbed. But the door opens yet again, showing Lance Hunk, Pidge, and Allura.

“Ha! I win, Lance. You lost, now pay up!” Pidge yells, spinning around to face Lance. Keith and Shiro stare at the others, shocked and confused.

“What? No! That’s not fair. You can't be sure if you even won yet.” Lance fires back. Keith turns to Shiro and gives him a questioning look, but he just shrugs in response.

“What are you guys talking about?” Keith interrupts Pidge’s and Lance’s argument. Lance turns away from Pidge and crosses his arms. 

Hunk gives them an apologetic smile, “Pidge and Lance made a bet a while ago. They bet when you to would, and I quote, “stop with the goddamn pinning already and tell the other how they feel.”

Keith levels a glare at the two quilty looking Paladins, however, one looks more pleased than the other. “You placed a bet on us?” Keith says irritated.

“Hey, we were just trying to make the most out of your guy’s pinning. It was annoying to have to watch you guys make heart eyes at one another but never do anything about it,” Lance nonchalantly says, “And besides, it was all Pidge's idea.” 

Pidge gives Lance a betrayed look and Allura laughs. “Well, you two are together now at least. And I want to express just how happy I am that you two found your happiness in one another.” Allura says.

Shiro gives her a smile, “Thank you Allura. That means a lot.”

“Alright, alright. We’re happy for you guys too, but stop being so ‘lovey-dovey’ for a moment and scoot over. I want to rest for a bit before we go on the mission later.” Lance says and he makes his way over to the couch. He rests his legs on the couch and leans back against Shiro and Keith. Allura follows and lays against Lance, their hands intertwined. Hunk and Pidge get comfortable on the other side and Keith and Shiro; they all lay there in silence.

From the floor, Kosmo lifts his head. He looks at the camera and stands up. He walks over to the camera, and with a bright light, the camera focuses on the hallway outside of the room. Kosmo teleports back inside the Rec Room.

The camera beeps, signaling a low battery, and the camera shuts off.

* * *

The camera beeps and whirs, Kinkade coming into focus. He is wearing his MFE uniform and appears to be in his bedroom.

“Camera’s fully charged. We’re good to go. The time is now 0900 hours. The MFE pilots were summoned to go through battle drills but we are back on track.”

* * *

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Colleen says from behind the camera, “It’s an Altean Juniberry. The first one to bloom in nearly 10,000 years.” The camera zooms out and Colleen comes into view, “I managed to get it to grow by resequencing the genetic code of a similar plant. I want to give it to Allura.” 

The door opens and the camera moves, showing Hunk in the door entryway. “Oh, sorry. Am I interrupting something again? I just - I just came in to see if Colleen had a very specific type of yeast.”

“Yeast? What for?” Kinkade steps forward, his interest piqued. 

“Oh no…” Rizavi groans.

“It’s that recipe I’m working on. I think I got the topping down, but I’m still trying to figure out the sweet bread.”

“I have so many strains of yeast it’ll make your head spin. I got AB 972, SC88C. I even have O unilateralis,” Collen turns to look at the camera, “Don’t mess with that one.”

“Are you getting this?” Kinkade excitedly asks Rizavi. 

Rizavi sighs, “Unfortunately, yes.”

* * *

“The time is 1200 hours,” Rizavi starts as her and Kinkade glide down the hallway, “We just got word that we are in the Grei-Aye star system. The Paladins will be heading down to the surface of the planet any second now.”

* * *

“Lance, how are you feeling about the mission you’re about to go on?” Rizavi asks.

“Oh, hey. I’m feeling good, I guess.” Lance says with a smile. However, it is quickly replaced with a frown as Lance grows more anxious. “Maybe a little tense. Maybe a lot tense. I don’t know. Why’d you have to ask me that question?” He exclaims.

Allura rests her hand on Lance's shoulder, reassuring him. “I think what Lance is trying to say is that he’ll be fine. We all will.” Lance gives her a soft smile in return.

Shiro comes into view, walking towards Keith. He rests a hand on his shoulder and Keith grins at him. “Be careful out there,” Shiro says, his eyes soft as he stares at Keith. Keith turns to him and the two share an embrace. 

When they pull away, Shiro looks towards Allura and Lance. “You two be careful too.”

“Don’t worry, we will,” Allura says.

* * *

“Right now we are headed to the situation room where we’ll be monitoring the Paladins in real-time,” Rizavi says as Kinkade walks through the hangar door and into the hallway.

“By the way,” Kinkade interrupts, “you know we’re not gonna be able to bring our camera into that meeting, right?” He walks away as Rizavi watches him go.

She leans into the camera with a mischievous look in her eyes. “Says who?”

* * *

The camera is situated to focus on the participants in the situation room, yet still remains to stay out of sight.

“Come in Pidge,” Sam Holt says, waiting for a connection, “Are you reading us?”

On the screen shows a base on a gloomy and deserted planet. It is coming from Pidge’s camera in her suit.

“Okay, we’ve just touched down on the surface,” Pidge says as she looks at the base.

“We are at the location where the signal is coming from,” Keith confirms, walking towards the large doors.

“Uhh, are you sure this is where it's coming from?” Hunk says, pushing the doors open, “It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for a while.”

“I’m sure, but I’m not finding any energy signals coming from inside,” Pidge states as they all enter the unlit base.

The camera feed turns to static and an alarmed Shiro yells out to the paladins. “Paladins! Can you hear me? We’ve lost visual.”

The static changes to show Keith’s face on the monitor. The audio barely comes through. “Shiro… jamming… continuing on...report once… outside.”

“Bridge, what's going on with the connection?” Shiro commands over the comms.

Curtis’s voice comes over on the comms. “I am detecting multiple frequencies that seem to be jamming their signal.”

Shiro sighs and turns back to the monitor, still displaying static. He looks worried. “Alright. Try to quickly get a connection.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Not a moment later, the static is replaced with Pidge scanning through the surveillance footage on the control panel. Hunk’s arm is shown on the bottom of the camera, most likely watching over her shoulder.

“Pidge! Hunk! Can you hear me?” Shiro asks, sounding relieved.

“Shiro! I can hear you. I think the original distress signal was blocking our signal and we lost connection, but I was able to restore it.”

“Good, where are the others?”

“Lance and Allura went looking in some of the rooms nearby, and Keith is looking in the rooms on the other side of the base. Kosmo is with him so they should be back soon. And Hunk is beside me, breathing down my neck, while I am looking through footage. I’m hoping to find something that will show what happened and where everyone went, but I’ve found nothing yet.” Pidge grunts in frustration.

Shiro frowns, thinking. “How old is that distress signal?”

“From what I saw, its years old. I think whoever did send the signal definitely won’t be here anymore.” Hunk says, still out of frame.

“Yeah, I’m not seeing anything either. The footage doesn’t seem to go back that far. I’ve already tried hacking into the system to retrieve any deleted footage but there wasn’t any.” Pidge says, backing away from the console.

The door opens and Pidge turns to watch Allura and Lance walk into the room.

“Find anything?” Hunk asks.

Lance shakes his head. 

“Alright, once Keith comes back, head on back to the Atlas.” Shiro orders, and right when he finishes, Keith and Kosmo teleport into the room. Keith has a troubled look on his face.

“Did you find anything?” Allura asks, noticing his expression.

Keith opens his mouth to say something, but ultimately closes his mouth and shakes his head. The others look disappointed but they all start making their way out of the base.

* * *

“We’ve just got word that the Paladins have returned from their mission. Maybe we can catch one of the paladins for a quick interview.” Rizavi says, giddy as she and Kinkade walk down the hallway.

Kinkade goes to walks around the corner but stops abruptly. Rizavi swerves to avoid crashing in his back. 

Rizavi peaks over the corner, Allura and Lance coming into view. 

“Anything?” Lance asks, stopping in the middle of the hallway. Rizavi looks at the camera and grins mischievously. 

“No, Romelle and I have tried talking to Luca but she still seems a little shaken up about being under Honerva’s control for so long,” Allura says, looking down at her feet. She looks and sounds upset, “I don’t want to push her into talking because that won’t help us make any progress. But I know we are quickly running out of time.”

Lance rests his hand on her arm, “I’m sorry. I know you feel really stressed lately. But don’t be too hard on yourself. We’ll find Honerva.” Lance steps closer, embracing Allura. “I promise.”

Allura smiles, however, she still looks upset. “Thank you, Lance. But I just want to find Honerva and finish this before anyone gets hurt. I’ve already lost some much.” She tightens her hold on Lance, “I can’t bear to lose anymore.”

“You won’t lose us, Allura. We are going to stand by each other's side until the very end. And when the war is over, we will still be together, alive, happy, and free to live.” Lance pulls away enough to rest his palm on Allura’s cheek, “You will make it out of this war alive, and so will the rest of us.”

Allura still looks doubtful. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because we are together. And we are strongest when we are all together. As a family. And family protects one another, through all hardships.”

Allura smiles and leans in closer to Lance, closing her eyes. Lance meets her in the middle-

Kinkade’s hands cover the camera lens. “No, that’s private.”

“Kinkade,” Rizavi says frustrated, “What are you doing? That was our love angel!” She shouts, desperately trying to take the camera from Kinkade.

* * *

“Oh, hey,” Hunk says, facing the camera, “You’re just in time. I was just about to add the yeast Colleen gave me.” He takes the spoon from the bowl that he was mixing. Bebe, who is begging right next to Hunk, whines and grabs the spoon from Hunk’s hand.

“No, Bebe! Bad dog!” Hunk shouts as he runs out the door after Bebe.

* * *

Kinkade adjusts the camera and checks his watch. The camera turns to face Allura. 

“First off, thanks for doing this, Allura.”

“Your welcome.” Allura smiles.

“Maybe we can start with the Altean, Luca,” Rizavi suggests, but Allura frowns.

“I’m afraid there isn’t much to say. Other than the fact that she is out of the coma and the doctors have cleared her, she hasn’t mentioned anything about Honerva.”

“Are you frustrated?” Rizavi asks. 

“A little, but more worried than anything. Honerva poses a huge threat to the universe and we aren’t close to locating her. If she finds us before we can prepare ourselves, I can’t help but fear for the worst.” Allura looks down at her hands. “She’s out there, planning something to stop Voltron. She lost her home and maybe Lotor as well. While he is most likely still alive, Honerva doesn’t seem to have found him.  But that will only anger Honerva more.”

“Do you think we will ever find Honerva?” Rizavi says calmingly, trying to soothe Allura’s nerves.

“No. If anything, she will find us first.”

* * *

Hunk grins as he faces the camera. “Okay, it’s been a long day, but I’m finally done.” He bends down and pulls a tray out from the oven. On the tray appears to be twelve blue cookies.

“What is it?” Kinkade asks, zooming in on the tray.

“It’s an authentic Altean dessert!” Hunk cheers. “I’m going to give it to Allura, Romelle, and Luca. Coran helped me with the recipe, but I think his memory was a bit fuzzy, so, I did some improvising. No big whoop.” Hunk nonchalantly states.

“You did this for them? Why?”

“Well, I know that food has a way of reminding people of moments in time. Like times you spent with your family. And I know they miss their home, even if Romelle and Luca didn’t know Altea, it’s still part of who they are. And who knows, maybe it’ll make them smile, remember happier times, before all this madness.”

* * *

Romelle, Luca, and Allura walk into the kitchen, Hunk standing by the counter.

“What did you gather us for, Hunk?” Allura smiles at the man.

Hunk smiles back and holds out the tray. The three gasps when they see the cookies, quickly reaching for one.

“You made these?” Luca asks, giving Hunk an amazed smile. “It reminds me of home.”

“Well, I had help from Coran. I wanted to make these for you. I know that we have a difficult few weeks, and I know that you have been under a lot of stress. Especially you, Allura. And I wanted to make you something that would remind you of home. A time before when it was peaceful.”

Luca and Romelle look down. Hunk sees this and continues. “And I know that your circumstances weren’t all that great, but you were alive and with people you cared about. Even if you didn’t know Altea personally, it’s still a part of you. And it always will be. You held onto hope that things would get better. And they will be. You just have to hold on to that part of you that keeps on fighting.”

Luca looks up at Hunk, tears in her eyes but gives him a bright smile nonetheless. “Thank you, Hunk. I don’t know how to thank you.” Luca suddenly frowns and turns to Allura. “I wish to apologize to you, Princess. I know that because of my lack of help, it has put a lot of stress on you.  And for that, I apologize.

“But after I was released from Honerva’s control, I wasn’t able to remember anything. I tried so hard to remember her base locations and her plans but I simply cannot.” 

Allura rests her hand on her arm and gives her a comforting smile. “I understand. I, too, would like to apologize for pushing so hard. I just wish to end this before people start getting hurt.”

“Luca, don’t push yourself so much to remember. It’ll only hurt you in the end. And I don’t you to hurt yourself because you thought that it was the only way to help.” Romelle says, and Luca turns to her. “And just remember,  you have friends here for you. Don’t feel as though you have to do this all on your own.

“None of us are alone anymore.” Romelle says and looks to Allura, “We have each other.”

* * *

The camera focuses on Kinkade sitting on top of his bed. “This is Lieutenant Ryan Kinkade, MFE Pilot. The time is 2300 hours. Day 47 aboard the IGF Atlas is officially done.”

The footage stops and the camera powers down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter isn't a good as the others. Having the chapter be from the camera's point of view is kinda awkward when writing. But I didn't want to not write this chapter because it would be awkward.
> 
> And besides, I really like the ”Day 47” episode. It was really creative. But I thought that there was a chance for the paladins to spend time together, but because season 8 wasn't too well thought out, they missed a great opportunity.
> 
> And u know I didn't answer a few things in the chapter but I promise they will have answers closer to the end.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Memory of
> 
> Tex Kogane
> 
> 2109 - 2152
> 
> Keith frowns as he gazes upon the tombstone, an empty feeling erupting inside him. A feeling of loneliness. It tries to claw its way out from inside Keith; he pushes it down, refusing to give in. He can’t be weak now; if he breaks down then it will only confirm that this is all real; his dad really is gone and Keith is all alone.

_The stars glimmer and twinkle in the night sky; the dark and endless sky is all that can be seen for miles. The cold desert air bites all uncovered skin, creating goosebumps. But it doesn’t bother Keith._

_Keith stares through his open bedroom window, gazing down at his father on their front porch. Keith was put to bed a few hours ago, but he wasn’t tired. He noticed early in the day that something was bothering his father. But when asked, Keith’s dad smiled, albeit sadly, and told Keith that everything was fine._

_Keith wasn’t stupid, he knew that his dad was_ not _fine. And watching his dad stares forlornly at the endless sky told Keith all he needed to know._

_A sudden breeze rustles the curtains; Keith shivers from the cool air. He wants to go down to his dad, to comfort him, to hug him and bring him back inside._

_But Keith’s feet seem to be glued to his floor._

_“Krolia,” his dad sighs, his voice tired. “I miss you. I know you can’t hear me, but it helps. Somewhat.” He pauses for a moment and Keith waits for him to continue. His dad takes a deep breath, composing himself. “You should see our son. He has taken after you so much._

_“I know that you left to protect us, but we miss you,” his voice falters, “_ I _miss you.”_

_Keith stays rooted in his spot, unable to move. He watches as the black sky and bright stars fade into a gray and dreary view. The endless desert shifts to an unfortunately familiar place._

_Instead of staring at his father from his window, Keith gazes at a tombstone._

In Memory of

Tex Kogane

2109 - 2152

_Keith frowns as he gazes upon the tombstone, an empty feeling erupting inside him. A feeling of loneliness. It tries to claw its way out from inside Keith; he pushes it down, refusing to give in. He can’t be weak now; if he breaks down then it will only confirm that this is all real; his dad really is gone and Keith is all alone. He doesn't have any family to take him in, so he will be taken to an orphanage._

_What right does Keith have to breakdown about his misfortune? He is fully aware of thousands of other kids who have it worse than he does._

_Keith refuses to break down. It won’t change anything._

_He doesn’t have anyone there for him anymore._

_But then he did._

_The rain stops and the sky clear; the sky's dreary appearance is washed away. The clouds disperse and the sun shines brightly in the sky._

_Keith walks through the halls of the Garrison while keeping an eye out for the Garrison’s Golden Boy: Takashi Shirogane._

_Keith remembers how persist the older man was when they first met. Keith was just as persistent to get Shiro to stay the hell away from him as the other boy was to befriend Keith. He didn’t need some good Samaritan trying to “befriend” him. No one at Keith’s previous school was interested in being friends with him, so why Shiro want to be friends?_

_He was too quiet, too weird, too disrespectful._

_So why would some goody two-shoes that is_ the _Takashi Shirogane try so hard to get Keith to finally stop avoiding him like the plague?_

_He would leave just like everyone else._

_But he didn’t._

_And that’s what broke Keith._

_Shiro wasn’t being kind to Keith because he saw him as some sort of charity case._

_His kindness was genuine and it confused Keith to a great extent._

_At first, Keith thought all he felt for Shiro was admiration. He looked up to the older man. He wanted to show Shiro that he didn’t make a mistake when he started mentoring Keith._

_Then everything with Adam happened and Keith realized that maybe what he felt for Shiro ran deeper than admiration went._

_Keith knew that he could never tell Shiro how he felt towards him. He would be foolish to do so._

_Keith didn’t think he had much of a future. The only reason he was accepted into the Garrison was because of Shiro. Even if he has some skill for flying, he’s a delinquent._

_Shiro’s future outlook was the polar opposite of Keith’s. Shiro_ will _go far. And no matter what promises Shiro made to Keith during the earlier stages of their friendship, Keith will get left behind._

_The sky is replaced by a screen with Shiro’s face shining down on him, the words “Pilot Error” taunting Keith. When he stumbled into the room, he acknowledged Matt and Sam Holts’ pictures also shown on the screen, but when his eyes meet Shiro’s grinning face, it was like all the life was sucked out of him._

_Everything went quiet; the only thing Keith could hear was his heart pounding in his ears. His hands quiver, and he forms tight fists to still his hands. Everyone else in the room fades away as Keith stares up at Shiro’s image._

_Keith gasps out a breath, tears gathering in his eyes. He storms out on the room, running to Iverson’s office. He reemerges minutes later, his left-hand throbbing; he pays no mind to the pain or the stares as he gathers his things and leaves._

_The year Keith spent in the desert was mostly a blur. Some days he spent trying not to cry, staring blankly at a living room wall from his childhood. On other days he rode his hover bike across the desert, subconsciously following the path that Shiro used to take him._

_It felt like a lifetime ago since they last raced across the desert._

_One specific day from the desert stands out in Keith’s mind the most: Ryou Shirogane had found a way to contact him, and he somehow found where Keith had run off to and came to check on him._

_Keith had been staring at the living room wall all morning, trying to ignore the emptiness inside him. Then the door opened and Shiro walked through the door. Keith thought he was dreaming._

_Then he remembered that Shiro was gone, and he was actually living in a nightmare._

_“Keith,” Not-Shiro gasps out, pain evident in his gray eyes._

_Keith stares at him, not saying a word. Not-Shiro walks closer and gathers Keith in his arms._

_Keith didn’t know how long he cried for, but Ryou kept Keith in his embrace until all that escaped Keith were sniffles._

_It was the first time that Keith has cried in years._

_The desert is erased and the Castle Of Lion’s training room is painted over._

_Keith parries an attack from a Gladiator. He counter strikes and the Gladiator is thrown to the ground and doesn’t get back up. Keith pants and wipes sweat from his eyes._

_“Start training level eight.” He commands and gets in a starting stance._

_Keith attacks first and the Gladiator swings his staff to avoid Keith’s attack. Keith grunts and pushes forward. He is eventually thrown to the ground._

_Keith tries to push himself back up, but his arms shake in exhaustion, unable to hold his weight. From the corner of his eye, he spots the Gladiator advancing toward him._

_“End training sequence!” He shouts and collapses on the ground. The Gladiator goes still and Keith sighs._

_He rests his burning face on the cold training room floor, sighing in relief. He rolls over onto his back, and he stares up at the ceiling._

_The door opens and Keith hears footsteps walk towards him. Keith feels annoyance build up in him at being interrupted, but he doesn’t say anything._

_Hunk’s form fills his vision, and he feels most of his annoyance disappear at the sight of the man._

_He gives Keith a concerned look, “Are you okay, man? You’ve been training for quite some time. Why don’t you take a break and come to the kitchen with me. I can whip something up for you.” Keith wants to cry at his kindness._

_He doesn’t._

_He refuses to break apart._

_Keith sighs and pushes himself into a sitting position. Hunk walks back into Keith’s view and sits down on the floor across from him._

_“Are you okay?” Hunk asks, repeating his question. “I know that everything that happened with-”_

_“I’m fine Hunk,” Keith snaps, interrupting him. That is why he was training, so he can push all his pain to the back of his mind. He hates thinking about it. It brings up all his past wounds._

_He notices Hunk giving him a disbelieving look, and Keith sighs; he looks down at his hands in his lap. “I’m fine. I promise,” He repeats, softer this time._

_“Keith…” Hunk sighs, and Keith is thankful to hear no sign of pity in his voice. He is sick of people pitying him._

_“Look Hunk. It’s nothing I’m not used to. It’s something that I will have to deal with, okay? So trust me when I say I’m fine,” Keith says and every loss comes running back at him._

_“Then why are you crying?” Hunk asks softly._

_Keith quickly wipes away the offending tears but more replaced those he wiped away._

_Hunk gathers Keith in his arms and Keith cries silently._

_Keith pulls away and sees Shiro’s deadly stare pointed at him. Keith feels fear pull at him, but he refuses to back down._

_Keith pants from exertion, his whole body screaming in pain. “Shiro, I know you’re in there,” Keith said, staring at Shiro through the metal structure that has fallen in between them. “You made a promise to me once. You told me you’d never give up on me,” Keith pleads._

_That day wasn’t the most pleasant for Keith. James proved to be a nuisance during Keith’s time at the Garrison. But then James went and made a jab at Shiro and his parents. And Keith lost what little control he had._

_He was positive that he would be going back to the orphanage. His attitude was barely tolerated. But he was shocked when Shiro vouched for him, proving to Keith that Shiro was serious about never giving up on him._

_Shiro flipped Keith’s world upside down in the best way possible._

_But now, with Shiro trying to kill Keith, he refuses to give up on Shiro without trying to save him. Even though his words rip open old wounds, Keith won’t stop until Shiro is safe._

_“I should have abandoned you just like your parents did. They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should've seen it too,” Shiro growls out._

_And maybe he isn’t totally wrong. Keith knows that he has issues. He isn’t afraid to say so too._

_However, he doesn’t let that deter him. “I’m not leaving here without you.”_

_Shiro closes his eyes, a smirk appearing on his face. He opens his eyes and fear courses down Keith’s spine. Shiro’s eyes no longer hold any of their previous warmth, warmth that was so familiar to Keith. Instead, Shiro stares at Keith with a cold and murderous look in his eyes. ”Actually, neither of us are leaving.”_

_Keith is quickly chased down to the lowest level of the cloning facility, crawling to his dagger that is lodged in the floor. But his strength is sapped from his body and he lays on the floor, motionless. His body has gone numb from pain and exhaustion. His fight is quickly leaving his body._

_Shiro jumps down in front of Keith, and he stares back up at Shiro._

_Shiro swings his sword down at Keith, who makes a quick grab at his dagger, blocking Shiro’s swings and preventing him from making the final blow._

_Keith tries desperately to stop Shiro from bringing his sword down, but Keith can’t keep fighting. “Shiro, please,” Keith gasps out, “You’re my brother.” As soon as those words leave his mouth, Keith knows that they don’t accurately describe how important Shiro is to Keith. Shiro is so much more than that to him._

_“I love you.”_

_The clone facility explodes towards the top, and everything comes falling down around the two._

_Keith couldn’t let Shiro go, not after everything that they have gone through. Not after all the fights, all the deaths, all the failure and mishaps._

_Keith closes his eyes and lets go._

_He feels weightless._

_He looks at Shiro._

_He doesn’t regret a thing._

_Keith shoots up from his spot on the ground, trying to catch his breath._

_He looks around, trying to take in his surroundings. His heart is beating madly in his chest, and he tries to take deep breaths to calm down._

_“Keith,” a voice catches his attention. He turns around and spots his mom. She is sitting by the fire in their small camp. She looks at him, sympathy shining in her eyes._

_He is momentarily caught off guard at seeing his mom sitting across from him. It has only been a year since they have been traveling on the Weblum, a whole year since he has found his mom, and it still sometimes feels like a dream. Like she isn’t really here._

_Ever since they have been on the Weblum, Keith has slowly warmed up to Krolia. He has accepted the fact that she is really here with him; she loves him, and she won’t leave him again. She made sure to tell him whenever he doubted her intentions._

_“I’m so sorry Keith,” She says. She moves closer to him and wraps Keith in her arms._

_Keith loses all feeling as dread encompasses him, “that can’t happen. I can’t lose him again.”_

_Krolia rocks him back and forth, trying to calm Keith down. “From what I’ve seen, Shiro loves you, my star. You two have gone through so much together; your bond is so strong that I don’t see Shiro willingly leaving you behind._

_“The visions that the Weblum show us may be true, for it shows us the past. But the future isn’t set in stone. Things change. People make different choices that will provoke different outcomes._

_“Don’t focus too much about what you see in the future, Keith. I have hopes that you will find your happiness with Shiro when this is all over. Don’t lose hope.” She pulls away and rests her hands against Keith’s cheeks._

_“Thanks mom.” Keith says, smiling up at her._

_Krolia looks surprised for a moment but quickly smiles back._

_Keith’s surrounding fade away. The lush scenery fades to nothing, and Keith feels dread overpower him._

_It’s an all too familiar setting._

_“You have lost much, Red Paladin.”_

_Keith spins around, hoping to find the source of the voice, but by know he already has a good guess as to who is speaking to him._

_“You have something that is very important to me. You have a power that you have no knowledge about. And when the time comes, you will have no idea how to control that power._

_“I have plans for you Keith. I can give you what you have always desired. Just come to me and it will all be yours. You won’t have to hurt any longer.”_

_The voice bounces around the empty void, and Keith feels pain erupts in his head. Energy courses through his veins; heat licks at his body as if he has been set aflame; his muscles twitch spastically; pain erupts inside him._

_He sinks to his knees, crying out in pain. His hands are buried in his hair, trying to ground himself._

_“I can make it stop,” the voice hisses. “Stop fighting and the pain will all go away. Give yourself to me and everything will stop.”_

_“Stop!” Keith screams._

_“You are weak. You will give in,” the voice whispers. “You will be mine.”_

* * *

Keith screams upon waking up, and strong arms are wrapped around his waist. He struggles to free himself, but a soothing voice whispers in his ear.

At first, the action causes more panic to rise in Keith. Then he realizes who is speaking to him, and he goes limp in the embrace holding him close.

“You’re okay, it was just a dream. You’re okay.” Shiro continues to whisper sweet nothings to Keith whilebye slowly gathers his bearings.

Shiro is holding Keith close; the embrace is more comforting than it is suffocating. Kosmo lies by Keith’s feet, staring at him with a concerned look. All the blankets have been kicked off the bed, most likely from when Keith was still dreaming. The lamp on Shiro’s bedside table is on, encompassing their bedroom in a dim, yet warm, glow.

Keith takes a deep breath, and he turns to face Shiro. His eyebrows are furrowed and a frown graces his face. Keith feels a pang of guilt from worrying Shiro.

Shiro cups his face, thumb gently caressing his cheeks. Keith closes his eyes at the soothing sensation.

“Are you okay, baby?” Shiro asks softly. Keith looks into Shiro warm gray eyes and nods.

“I am now,” Keith whispers. “I’m sorry for waking you.”

Shiro gives him a look, ”Don’t be sorry. You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep. I wasn’t about to do nothing while you were having a nightmare” He presses a kiss to Keith’s forehead, ”I want to help you, Keith. I know that help wasn’t offered a lot to you when you were younger, but I love you too much to do nothing when you are in pain.”

Keith doesn’t know how to respond to that; instead he surges up and kisses Shiro, passion burning in his veins.

Shiro is quick to reciprocate, tilting his head and deepening the kiss.

Eventually, Shiro pulls away. Keith whines, which causes the older man to smile. “We should get back to sleep. We have to wake up in a couple of hours.”

Keith sighs and lays back down. He whistles at Kosmo and he happily moves up to Keith. He lays an arm around the wolf and cuddles closer to the heat in front of him. Shiro turns off the lamp and cuddles up behind Keith, holding him close.

Keith smiles softly as he falls back asleep.

* * *

Shiro had come to the common room the morning  -where Lance, Allura, Hunk, Pidge, and Keith were located- announcing that they will be attending Clear Day on Drazan. Shiro announces that they will be there to provide extra security.

But judging from the excited shouts from Hunk, Lance, and Pidge, Keith already knows that they have no interest in providing security.

They all head down to the surface, and Keith is instantly overwhelmed from the bright flashing lights, the loud carnival music, and the excited cheers from the attendees.

“I want you all to enjoy yourselves today,” Shiro starts, gaining the paladins’ attention. “The celebration ends in five vargas. It’s important to remember that while the Atlas patrols the skies, we are the eyes and ears on the ground looking for any suspicious activity. These people are relying on us.”

Coran digs his hands in his pockets and pulls out stacks of gold coins. He holds out the first stack to Pidge, putting the coins in her palm. “I pulled some strings and got each of you ten complimentary Clear Day tokens. Use them for games, food, rides,” Coran says, ticking ticking off the activities on his fingers.

Allura looks around and she spots a carnival game that look exactly like a Ring Toss game.

She spins around to face Lance, her eyes wide and a huge grin on her face. “Lance, look! That game over there has lion prizes!” She exclaims. Lance laughs and they run over to the booth.

Keith frowns, “Let’s remember why we came here in the first place, to provide security for the event.”

Pidge, Hunk, and Coran each give Keith a blank look.

“Uhh…” Pidge says, looking around, “Right. Well, I better go find the arcade and make sure it’s safe, yeah!” And with that, she runs off before Keith can respond.

“Me too!” Hunk shouts and runs off in the opposite direction.

Coran looks at Keith, then Shiro and runs off, yelling for the others to wait up.

Keith huffs and crosses his arms.

“Keith, relax,” Shiro says, walking up to Keith. He grabs hold of Keith’s hands, “Go have fun.”

“If we’re not here for protection then what are we even doing here?” Keith gives Shiro a stern look.

Shiro shrugs his shoulders, an easy smile on his face, “Morale on the Atlas is low. It has been for a while. We’ve been trying so hard to find Honerva these past few weeks that everyone is getting frustrated. Who knows? A few hours at the carnival might give us the boost we need to get back on track.”

Keith looks away from Shiro warm gaze, unconvinced. He doesn’t like the idea of diverting from their task to play carnival games when the people here need protection from any potential enemies.

Keith can’t afford to let his guard down.

“Keith,” Shiro says, turning Keith’s face back up to face him, “Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen. And think of it this way, this can be our first official date. With everything that is going on, I doubt we will have another opportunity like this one. Let’s enjoy it and have some fun.”

Keith fights back a smile at the thought of them being on a date. But the not-smile doesn’t avoid Shiro’s notice. He grabs Keith’s hand again and leads him off.

Shiro laughs and they walk over to what looks like a rollercoaster. “I knew that would get you.”

Keith blushes, but he smiles all the same. They stand in line for a few minutes before the ride operator calls for the next person. They get in the ‘Burrow Buggy’ and the bar is lowered.

“Keep your hands and feet inside the mouth at all times. You use ‘em, you lose ‘em. Have a blissfully burrowful time.” The irritable operator states and pulls the lever. The ride stutters for a moment then starts going down the track.

As soon as the cart passes the curtains and Keith’s eyes adjust to the bright lights, he instantly regrets letting Shiro drag him onto the ride.

Inside the cave are mechanical burrowpeople with pick-axes on colorfuls hills with an equally colorful sky. They are dancing while loudly singing “ _We burrow everyday! Underground is where we stay, waiting for the time to say Clear-Day, Clear-Day”_ on repeat.

Next to him, Shiro chuckles. Keith turns to him and raises an eyebrow.

Shiro smiles at him and explains. “When I was little, my grandfather took Ryou and I to Disney World. At one of the parks, there was a ride called “It’s a Small World”; it was a boat ride and it took us through tunnels with mechanical kids singing and dancing. Ryou and I loved it. When we were back at the hotel later that day, we sang the song all night. I don’t know how my grandfather dealt with it. This ride reminded me of the ride in Disney World.”

Keith smiles at Shiro’s cheery tone. He can’t remember the last time he sounded so happy. The happy atmosphere fades when the ride lurches to a stop and the operator’s monotone voice comes over the speaker, “Sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll get this thing up and running in a tick. In the meantime, stay in your burrow buggy. And remember, have a blissfully burrowful time.”

Keith puts his head in his hands, gripping his hair. “I gotta get out of here,” He whines. The repetitive music rings in Keith’s ears; he would rather be anywhere else than stuck on the ride.

“Keith, it’s not _that_ bad.” Shiro says, and Keith notes that he doesn’t sound very sympathetic. Instead, he looks very happy, even despite their current situation.

Now that Keith thinks about it, being stuck on the ride with Shiro for an indefinite amount of time isn’t all bad.

“Ha, yeah. You’re laughing now but when ten minutes pass and we are still stuck here, you are going to be just as annoyed as I am.” Keith gripes and crosses his arms.

Shiro tries to muffle his laughter but ultimately fails. Keith glares at him, but there isn’t any heat behind it.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll stop.” So he claims but he is still laughing. He pulls Keith closer and he goes willingly, falling into Shiro loving embrace. “I love you, Keith,” Shiro says, hands cupping Keith’s face.

“I love you, Takashi.” Keith leans up the rest of the way, and he presses his lips to Shiro. They share a soft kiss; they don’t rush the kiss, seeing as they aren’t going anywhere for the moment.

They part but remain close. Shiro’s smile is gone and he is staring intently at Keith’s cheek.

His scar.

“Shiro,” Keith starts but Shiro doesn’t let him finish.

“I’m sorry. For giving you this scar.” He averts his gaze, looking ashamed.

“Shiro, you’ve already apologized for this. And besides, it wasn’t your fault. I know you would never hurt me. Nothing that happened at the clone facility was your fault. It was all Honerva.”

Shiro doesn’t say anything, he just looks back up to stare into Keith’s eyes. Which is completely fine with Keith.

The ride lurches to a start and the operator’s voice comes back over the speaker, “Looks like everything is in order. We apologize for the delay. Again, have a blissfully burrowful time.” Keith sighs in relief.

They make it all but two seconds before the ride stops again. Keith groans, frustrated.

“Alright, I’m over this.” Shiro says, beginning to sound just as annoyed as Keith. “Keith, do you want to do the honors?” He grins mischievously.

Keith laughs and takes out his Bayard. He cuts the metal bar in half and climbs out of the ride. He holds out a hand for Shiro and he pulls his boyfriends out of the cart. They walk over to one of the walls and Keith cuts his way through.

One the other side of the wall is the carnival; Keith sighs in relief. Shiro wraps his arm around Keith and pulls him to his side. Keith reciprocates the action and they make their way back into the crowd of people.

They spot Allura and Lance at the Ring Toss game. Lance has an irritated look on his face while Allura looks amused. Lance appears to still be trying to win a blue stuffed lion for Allura.

Pidge is playing “Whack Coran”. Keith notices the pile of tickets at her feet. Keith is impressed at the amount of tickets she has won.

Shiro hums and turns to one of the booths; Keith turns to see what he is looking at. It’s a game where you throw a ball to knock down bottles.

“Do you want to try it?” Keith asks.

Shiro gives Keith a cheeky smile, “Well we _are_ at a carnival, so I would like to try and win you something.”

“Wha-Shiro, no. You don't have to do that.” Keith protests even though Shiro is already leading him over to the booth.

Shiro turns his head to throw Keith a grin. “I want to though.” He stops and turns to fully face Keith. Once Keith sees the pout on Shiro’s face, he knows that he has already lost.

Keith sighs and Shiro smiles again; he continues walking over to the booth.

It takes all ten of their coins and two tries for Shiro to win Keith a prize. He picks a red lion plushie.

Shiro hands it to Keith with a proud grin. Despite his earlier protests, Keith loves the lion.

“Thank you, Shiro.” Keith says and gives Shiro a kiss.

The five vargas pass quicker than Keith liked and they all board the pods that brought them to the surface. Lance _finally_ won Allura the blue lion plushie. He regals to the others about the Unilu at the booth and how Lance swears that he rigged the game.

Pidge has what looks like a hard hat with gems embedded in it. She has the largest smile on her face.

Hunk is telling them about all the different foods there were and new recipe ideas he has come up with.

Keith regards his friends with a smile. He hasn’t felt so light and happy in so long. And he would do anything to keep those smiles on his friends' faces.

When they get back on the Atlas, they all begin to go there separate ways when one of the crew members stops them. “Luca is in the conference room. She told me to tell you to meet her there as soon as you got back.”

Shiro thanks her and they make their way to the conference room.

Luca is waiting for them in the front of the room, a determined look on her face. They all take their seats and they wait for Luca to speak.

“I know where Honerva is hiding.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! I’m not dead.
> 
> I just had a lot going on that I didn’t have enough energy nor enough time to write. 
> 
> Also I’m sorry, but I didn’t include the arm wrestling match in this chapter.
> 
> When I saw season 8, it was just another thing that bothered me.
> 
> *cough cough* the old comment *cough cough*
> 
> *also I just realize how much of the chapter is a dream...  
> Oops...
> 
> Trust me: it’s important (probably could’ve made it shorter though)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith groans, slowly peeling his eyes open. He promptly shuts them to block out the bright light right above him. He tries to lift his arms, but finds that he can’t.

_ “Honerva has taken refuge on a desolate planet,” Luca starts, “It’s not familiar to any of the civilizations nearby; Honerva chose a location that wouldn’t be easily found.” Luca turns around and gestures to the holographic map displayed behind her. Keith doesn’t recognize any of the planets close by. _

_ “Guess she didn’t take you into account; you didn’t seem to have a difficult time finding it,” Hunks adds. _

_ Luca pauses and gives him an uncertain look, “Yeah, I guess.” She awkwardly looks away and clears her throat. Keith looks at her, curious. Luca doesn’t seem to notice his look, or she just chooses not to acknowledge it. “I have sensed a large amount of quintessence on the planet, so we can expect druids to be protecting her.” _

_ “So, no improvising?” Lance jokes, but Keith can tell that he looks nervous. _

_ Pidge gives him an unimpressed look. “When have we ever improvised instead of planning?” she asks incredulously _

_ Lance gives a sheepish look, but he doesn’t say anything else. _

_ Shiro sighs, looking at the map. “No, this is going to need a lot of planning. We will most likely need back up; I can imagine that there will be a lot of sentries and galra soldiers keeping guard, and if we all are going to be going into the base to face Honerva, then the Atlas will need help defending Honerva’s attacks.” _

_ “‘We’?” Coran gives Shiro a confused look. _

_ Shiro nods, a set expression on his face. “Yes, ‘we’.” He turns to face Coran. “You don’t expect me to just wait on the Atlas and not help take Honerva down, do you? Honerva is my fight too. I have to face her after everything that she has done to me.” _

_ Shiro had told him bits and pieces as to what happened when he was in captivity. Some parts were tamer; other parts, Keith could see how haunted Shiro was from his time in captivity. Shiro didn’t tell Keith everything that happened, but that’s fine with Keith. He trusts Keith enough to tell him the majority of what he had been through. And Keith is proud of him, nonetheless. _

Keith sighs, staring up at the ceiling of the Rec room, thinking back on the meeting earlier that day. His head rests in Pidge’s lap as she types away on her laptop, and Hunk sits next to Pidge, seemingly taking a nap. Lance and Allura are nowhere to be found; Keith briefly saw them walking off in a different direction when they exited the meeting room. He can only guess as to where they wandered off to. Shiro had to stay behind and look at the information that Coran and Veronica had found on the planet. Keith longs to be by Shiro’s side yet again. 

Keith squirms, an unsettling feeling washing over him. He feels a need to get up and move, to go somewhere. A pull to go-

“Are you okay, Keith? You are moving around a lot,” Pidge asks, looking away from the screen.

Keith huffs and stills; he meets Pidge’s slightly concerned gaze. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just restless.”

Pidge hums and starts running her fingers through Keith’s hair. He freezes for a moment, but he eventually leans into Pidge’s touch. Pidge doesn’t say anything; she returns her focus back on her work, but that doesn’t bother Keith.

This became a regular thing back in the Castle. The first few times Keith had wandered into Pidge working on her laptop or lion, he would try to leave before he was noticed, but Pidge seemed to have some sort of sixth sense for whenever Keith was in her presence. It started out with the two of them sitting in silence, Keith watching Pidge work. 

Then one day, Keith had wandered into the common room, having finished training and a shower, half asleep. He had sat down next to Pidge, leaning back on the couch, intending on taking a short nap. Pidge had noticed his half-awake status.

She had pulled Keith down to her lap without saying a word. Keith was shocked at first, but then she started running her fingers through his hair and Keith was asleep in minutes.

Moments like these always calmed Keith down. And this time is no different.

Calm washes over him. His limbs go lax, eyes becoming heavy, his breathing evening out, his heartbeat slowing down. Keith doesn’t even remember when his heart started racing.

“ _ Keith.” _

Keith shoots up from Pidge’s lap, heart pounding in his chest. All the peace in his body evaporates as panic sets in. 

A chill seems to set in the room. The Rec room seems to be fading away, emptiness taking over. Whispers creep out, calling out to him, crying out to him, screaming at him.

“Keith!” A voice shouts. He gasps and scrambles away. A hand reaches out and tries to grab him. Restrain him. Control him.

“Keith! You're okay. Look at me!”

Keith frantically looks around in the darkness, looking for the source of the voice. It sounds miles away. 

Warmth envelops the right side of his face, a vivid contrast to the cold. Light fills his vision. It pushes out the dark, and the far-away voices don’t seem so out of reach.

The concerned and frightened faces of Pidge and Hunk come to light; Keith tries to take a breath once he recognizes the safe environment. 

He is in a fetal position, but Pidge had lifted his head up so that their eyes meet. Hunk and Pidge are kneeling before him, eyes frightened.

Keith feels sweat drip from his brow. His heart is beating frantically in his chest. He is taking short and shallow breaths. His hands are shaking.

“Breathe, Keith. You’re alright. Just breathe,” Pidge says, resting one of Keith’s hands on her chest. Keith feels Pidge's steady heartbeat and even breaths against his palm.

Eventually, Keith is able to get his breathing under control. But with that comes embarrassment.

He feels foolish for his breakdown. He didn’t want Hunk and Pidge to witness him in this state. Whatever it was that caused it, Pidge and Hunk didn’t need to be burdened with his issues.

“Are you okay now, Keith?” Hunk asks softly. Keith spots nothing but kindness and worry in his friend’s eyes. 

Keith nods and tries to stand on shaky legs. Hunk is quick to try and get Keith to sit back down, saying that he needs to take it easy; however, Keith ignores him and quickly exits the room, saying he needs space.

Keith quickly makes his way back to his room, finding it empty. He lets out a shaky breath, falling down onto the couch, thoughts running wild in his head. 

He tries to wrap his mind around what had happened back in the rec room. It felt like a lifeless void took form inside him and was quickly devouring all the light inside him. Leaving nothing behind but an empty shell.

Easy for a source to take control.

His mind dreads the possible sources.

* * *

Shiro calls another meeting later in the day; he informs them that they have a plan to get into the base undetected. Keith tries his hardest to pay attention - this information is very crucial to free the universe. 

No matter how hard he tries, a thick fog keeps invading his mind. He desperately tries to hang onto Shiro’s words, but it slowly grows more difficult as time passes.

“Are we all clear on the mission?” Shiro asks everybody in the conference room. They give their agreement and Shiro dismisses them.

The others file out, talking about the plan, all sounding anxious. Keith stares after them, about to follow them out, until Shiro gently grabs his arm. He turns to face Shiro, who is giving him a concerned look. 

“Are you okay?” Shiro softly asks. Keith tries to give a reassuring smile, but his body isn't listening to his brain.

A severed connection.

Keith nods and pulls his arm free from Shiro’s grasp. On the inside, Keith feels guilt at Shiro’s hurt expression. All he wants to do is reassure him that everything is fine. Nothing bad is going to happen. 

That he isn’t lost to his lover. 

But he can’t.

_ “Keith.” _

He wants to scream, shout, tell someone that something is wrong.

But he can’t.

_ “Come to me.” _

Keith walks out of the room, not looking back when Shiro calls out to him. But he doesn’t follow.

_ “Find me.” _

His heart is in his throat, a chill spreads throughout his body, his heart ferociously beats in his chest. 

His control slipping.

Panic has set in but only on the inside. On the outside, his face is expressionless.

_ “You are weak.” _

He is completely at someone else’s mercy. 

He moves quietly down the empty hallway, the lights dim. Keith desperately tries to fight for control over his body, but his fight is useless. 

_ “You’re mine.” _

Blackness starts creeping in, taking over his vision. The last thing he sees is the hanger doors open, and Keith fades away.

* * *

She knew something was wrong as soon as Keith walked into the conference room. His eyes were cloudy and unfocused, his hands were trembling, and sweat was forming on his brow. 

He looked feverish. If she had to guess, Allura would assume that Keith was coming down with one of those human illnesses. Lance had called it ‘a cold”. 

What a silly name.

But he just stared off into the distance. He would occasionally come back and look around the room, looking almost frightened. Then his focus would slip again, and the process repeated until the meeting ended. 

She watched Shiro reach out for Keith, concern written all over his face; however, Keith didn’t respond to him. He pulled away, not saying a word. 

Shiro called out for the man, ready to go chasing after him, but the man named ‘Iverson’ held him back, saying that they still had work to do.

Shiro spun around annoyance and worry shining in his gray eyes. “Let me go after him. Something is wrong and I need to help Keith.” 

Iverson sighs, “Captain, I understand how important Keith is to you-”

“Then you can understand why I need to go after him,” Shiro says fiercely.

“Sir-”

Allura walks forward and Shiro turns to look at her. She places her hand on Shiro’s arm, trying to soothe him. “Don’t worry, Shiro. I’ll go find Keith myself. I took notice of his demeanor during the meeting and I grew worried. I promise I’ll make sure he’s okay.” She gives Shiro a soft smile. 

Shiro seems to contemplate her offer for a moment but he eventually nods, a pleading look in his eyes. “Thank you, Allura. Please, just find him and make sure he is alright.”

Allura gives one last smile and exits the room. She follows the hallway that she saw Keith go down, hoping he didn't get too far. 

Thankfully, she catches a glimpse of Keith as he turns a corner in the empty hallway. She hurries after him, and she sees him opening the hangar doors. She hurries through the doors and into the empty hangar.

“Keith,” Allura says, trying to gain his attention, but Keith doesn’t turn to her. He walks to one of the shuttles, his steps stiff. Robotic.

She runs up to him and lays a hand on his stiff shoulder. He stops walking; remaining completely stiff.

Then, in one swift movement, he spins around and pins Allura to a nearby shuttle. He presses himself against Allura to keep he from gaining any leverage on him. He pins her arms to the shuttle, rendering her immobile .

Allura feels fear grip her when she gazes into Keith’s empty purple eyes. She doesn’t want to fight him, she doesn't want to hurt him.

Something is obviously wrong with the paladin, but nobody seemed to piece together what was ailing him.

Allura takes a deep breath, trying to calm her heart. “Keith,” she says calmly, “It’s me, Allura.”

“Princess,” He growls out. He presses her harder into the shuttle and Allura gasps at the pressure. 

“Yes, Keith. It’s me,” she breathes out. She hands start sweating. “You’re okay. Just let me go and I can help you.”

Keith doesn’t respond, he just continues to stare at Allura. 

“We can get you help. I can take you to Shiro, he wants to help you.” Allura prays that saying Shiro’s name will help bring Keith back. She knows how much Shiro means to Keith; she saw all his desperate attempts to save the older man, how devastated Keith was when they thought they all lost him. How relieved Keith was when Shiro was brought back.

However, Keith doesn’t falter. His eyes remain empty, void, dead.

“I don’t need help,” Keith says. 

Allura feels pain erupt in the back of her head, and then nothing.

* * *

Keith groans, slowly peeling his eyes open. He promptly shuts them to block out the bright light right above him. He tries to lift his arms, but finds that he can’t.

He hears someone laughing; it echoes throughout the room, sending chills down Keith’s spine. He pries his eyes open and comes face-to-face with Honerva. Keith gasps and tries to move away, but he is unable to, his arms and legs are strapped down to the metal table that he is laying on.

His mind is fuzzy, unable to process what had happened and how he got here. Most of the day is completely wiped from his mind.

“You’re awake,” Honerva sneers; her eyes hold a sharp coldness, not that Keith expected anything less.

“How did I get here?” Keith snaps. He clenches his fists, but he feels fear settle deep inside him. 

The witch cackles and moves away from him. Keith turns his head to try to keep her in view, watching her every more. “You are weak; it was too easy to take control,” she starts, moving around the small room. “You are special, you hold so much potential inside of you, and you have no idea how to use it.” She grabs his face in one hand and jerks his head to face her. “You made me lose everything; my husband, my son, my future. Now I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you  _ never  _ see you family again.” An ugly grin crosses her face when she speaks, “It seems only fitting, paladin.”

Honerva turns away and starts messing with a machine next the the table. Keith tries pulling his arms free; however, he knows his efforts are useless.

Honerva cackles, “Your struggle is futile, paladin. And besides, I already have another spy in your team. You and your team won’t get away this time.”

* * *

Allura stumbles out of the shuttle, about to meet the floor when warm arms catch her. She grabs onto the arms holding her, trying to ground herself. Her limbs feel like lead, too heavy for her to lift. Her knees feel weak and brittle, unable to hold her body up.

“ _ You will be my pawn.” _

“Allura! Are you okay? What happened?” Someone shouts while running up to her.

_ “You will do what I demand of you.” _

She opens her tired eyes and meets Lance’s concerned gaze. He adjusts his hold on her so her arm lays over his shoulders, supporting most of her weight.

_ “You will take Voltron down from the inside.” _

“Allura?” The same person asks again, who she quickly identifies as Shiro. “What happened? Where’s Keith?” His voice shakes and Allura feels dread pool in her stomach. 

_ “Princess.” _

“I don’t know. I… I can’t remember.”

_ “You will be my spy.” _


End file.
